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THE NEW NAME; 



OR, 



THE SOUL'S ENTIRE PURIFICATION. 



WITH SUMMARY 
DISCUSSIONS OF COGNATE THEMES. 



BY 



REV. SHERIDAN BAKER, D.D., 



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" I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of 
my God, . . . and my own new name ." — Rev. 3 : 12. Revised Version. 



? COPYRlG h ^% 

MAY 24 1890" 

BOSTON: 

Mcdonald, gill & co„ 

36 Bromfield Street. 
1890. 



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Copyright 
By McDonald, Gill & Co. 



Press of " The Christian Witness," Boston. 



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PREFACE. 



THE general favor which the author's former 
writings have met with among people who 
love to read devotional books, has encouraged him 
to add another small volume to the list before he 
goes hence. The reigning thought of this book, like 
that of the others, is Christian holiness, though it 
is not a regular treatise of the subject, nor is it 
confined wholly to the idea of entire sanctifica- 
tion. The author has allowed himself more 
latitude in this than in the other books, and has 
given some space to brief discussions of other 
religious topics which he deemed vital. 

The chapter on " Religious Revivals " contains 
some thoughts which greatly aided the author in 
his early ministry as a pastor, and, in later years, 
in his work as an evangelist ; and he believes that 
these thoughts will stimulate and aid to much 
greater success all young ministers and other 
Christian workers who may carefully study them, 
until they clearly distinguish between depending 
upon signs and indications and upon God's im- 
mutable promise, or clearly discern between natural 



PREFACE. 

and evangelical faith. Natural faith must always 
give way to the supernatural before any truly great 
work of revival can commence; and just at this 
point, when natural faith is failing, and the evan- 
gelical about to assert itself and claim the victory, 
the great majority of Christian workers close the 
exercises, hoping that some future time may be more 
auspicious. Thus, about the time a grand work of 
God was commencing, they grieved the Spirit by 
abandoning the field of conflict. The hope that 
this little volume may fall into the hands of some 
of these weary and disappointed workers has led 
to the insertion of this chapter. 

With considerable trepidation, lest he might en- 
courage unbelief rather than help the faith of the 
Church, the author has inserted one chapter on the 
subject of "Faith Healing." Being himself an 
invalid for many years, he has had his attention 
frequently called to this matter ; has read almost 
all the literature that has been published upon 
"Divine Healing ;" has tried St. James's prescrip- 
tion for sickness at different times ; has been very 
speedily cured of certain ailments through "the 
prayer of faith;" has failed at other times, and 
with other diseases ; and has, by these experiences 
and study of the theme, reached certain conclusions 
respecting scriptural teaching on the subject, and 
has summarily presented these conclusions in this 
chapter. 

Without any specific allusion to other chapters, 

i 



PREFACE. 

it is hoped that they all may help every reader in 
his spiritual life and work ; ^nd with this fond hope 
the author sends this little volume forth, praying 
that the Holy Spirit may fill every chapter, para- 
graph, and word, and greatly bless every reader of 
its unpretending pages. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The New Name 9 

II. Steps to the New Name .... 14 

III. Jacob and the New Name ... 21 

IV. The New Name : a Grant of Mercy, 31 
V. Taking on the New Name ... 40 

VI. The New Name : Another Comforter, 48 

VII. The New Name: Pure Love . . . 57 

VIII. The New Name : a Holy Priesthood, 65 

IX. The New Name : Whiter than Snow, 73 

X. The New Name an Unction ... 83 

XI. The New Name Eefreshed ... 90 

XII. Christian Testimony 98 

XIII. Spiritual Enterprise . . . . . 110 

XIV. Seeking and Striving 116 

XV. Euinous Traditions 123 

XVI. Faith Healing 134 

XVII. The Time for Eeligious Eevivals, 144 

XVIII. The Primary Pursuit ..... 157 

XIX. The Believer's Security .... 164 

XX. The Twin Favors 173 

XXL Faith: Its Manner and Scope . 179 

XXII. Thomas' Skepticism 186 

XXIII. Paul's Confession of Holiness . . 192 

XXIV. Antinomianism — In Christ . . . 196 



"Thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be 
thy name." — Gen. 35 : 10. 

"To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, 
and I will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name 
written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. . . . 
And I will write upon him my new name." — Rev. 2 : 17 ; 3 : 12. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE NEW NAME. 

NAMES in the Scriptures are not at all merely 
used arbitrarily to designate persons and 
things. Many, if not all, are designations of origin, 
office, relation, condition, qualities, attributes, etc. 
We are told, by those who are acquainted with the 
philology of ancient languages, that the name 
"Adam " means, primarily, " red earth," and that it 
was intended not only to stand for the first man, 
but also to express his formation from the " dust of 
the ground." And the Bible narrative states that 
Adam named the woman whom God gave to him 
for a companion, "Eve," the root meaning of 
which is " living," thereby expressing her maternal 
relation to the future race of mankind. Thus a 
volume could be filled with highly interesting 
etymologies of biblical names and appellations. 

This, then, being the character of scriptural 
titles, it was no uncommon thing to change and 
give new names to sacred places and persons ; to 
express, when the occasion arose, their new rela- 
tions, conditions, transactions, and other facts con- 
nected with their history. As samples of the 



10 THE NEW NAME. 

almost innumerable instances of giving places new 
names, to commemorate certain events which trans- 
pired there, mention may be made of Beersheba 
and Jehovah-jireh. The former of these names, 
meaning " the well of the oath," was given by 
Abraham, to hold in memory a covenant made 
between him and Abimelech. The latter of these 
names, meaning " the Lord will provide/' was 
given by the same patriarch to Mount Moriah, to 
commemorate forever the wonderful providence 
which provided for him a sacrifice, and saved the 
life of Isaac. Another familiar instance of chang- 
ing the names, of places is found in the history of 
Jacob. He changed the name of Luz to " Bethel," 
to express what he experienced there on his way 
to Padanaram ; and changed the name " Jabbok " 
to " Penuel," to set forth in word his wonderful 
vision of God, face to face, in his wrestling with 
the angel. 

As instances of changing the names of persons, 
memory readily calls up Abraham and Sarah. 
Their names were changed in advanced age from 
"Abram" and "Sarai"by an insertion of the 
same particle into each name. This particle, or 
letter, was taken from the divine name ; and besides 
making the new names designate the headship 
of a numerous posterity, they indicated deeper con- 
secration to God than ever existed before, and was 
also significant of the introduction of a new ele- 
ment from the divine character into their nature. 



THE NEW NAME. 11 

Another notable instance of changing the name 
of a person, and one which fully illustrates the 
dominant idea of this article, took place with the 
patriarch Jacob. His original title meant " sup- 
planter," and was expressive of that trickery which 
cheated his brother out of his birthright, which 
cropped out in some of his dealings with Laban, 
and which attended him till he had his Jabbok ex- 
perience. In his long and desperate struggle with 
the angel, he finally broke down, was conquered, 
and frankly and fully confessed his inward defile- 
ment. This was succeeded by the impartation of 
a new nature, and God gave him a new name sig- 
nificant of the radical change which had taken 
place in his character. Before this event he was 
but partially saved, now he is saved fully ; was 
but partially sanctified, now he is sanctified wholly. 
Before this event he was Jacob, a " supplanter," 
but now he is Israel, " a prince of God." And 
this is " written for our learning." 

The Scriptures promise to every believer a like 
change, or the same inward purification, if he will 
honestly and truly confess his need, and seek the 
grace. Hence, "If we confess our sins, he is faith- 
ful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse 
us from all unrighteousness." " Him that over- 
cometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my 
God, and he shall go no more out: and I will 
write upon him the name of my God, and the name 
of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, 



12 THE NEW NAME. 

which cometh down out of heaven from my God : 
and I will write upon him my new name." " Him 
that overcometh," no matter who he may be, and 
every Christian, be he naturally ever so feeble, 
may wrestle with the angel, and overcome, as cer- 
tainly as Jacob did, and be constituted a pillar in 
the New Testament Church, nevermore to go out if 
he remain faithful. He shall have written upon his 
nature the name or nature of God, and the name 
of the Church of God, which is heavenly-minded- 
ness, holy relishes, celestial affinities, and every 
other lovely and winsome quality of the Lamb's 
bride. He shall have stamped, also, upon his 
being, the Saviour's own new name, which is 
Christ, the Anointed One. 

When Jesus was baptized, He prayed and saw 
heaven opened, and the Spirit descending upon 
Him " in bodily shape like a dove," and remained 
upon Him. In alluding to this experience, the 
Saviour said, at a subsequent period, " The Spirit 
of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed 
me to preach the gospel to the poor," etc. This 
anointing gave Him the adorable title, Christ, 
which, doubtless, He calls His new name, and 
which He will write upon all believers who will 
wrestle with the angel of the covenant, and over- 
come. 

Christ is an untranslated Greek word, mean- 
ing " Anointed One," and from it the name 
" Christian " is derived. This is also an untrans- 



THE NEW NAME. 13 

lated Greek word with an Anglican termination, 
and means " anointed persons." Hence, no be- 
liever is a Christian, in the full New Testament 
sense of the Word, till he overcomes, and has re- 
ceived the Saviour's own new name, or become an 
entirely sanctified believer with the anointing of 
the Holy Ghost. 

Oh that God's people might see the desirability 
and necessity of the new name, and, by the thou- 
sands, and multiplied thousands, arise and claim 
their privilege in the gospel, and take the name 
" which the mouth of the Lord shall name," " the 
holy people, The redeemed of the Lord " ! Then 
would our Zion rejoice in the fulfilment of the 
prophecy, "Thou shalt be called, Sought out, A 
city not forsaken." 



CHAPTER II. 

STEPS TO THE NEW NAME. 

THE Scriptures are replete with instruction upon 
the theme in hand ; but for brevity, point, and 
comprehensiveness, Paul's admonition in Rom. 6 : 
13 is selected to direct our inquiries. "Yield your- 
selves unto God as those that are alive from the 
dead." These words were addressed originally to 
Christians who were once dead in trespasses and 
in sins, but who, at the time of the address, were 
alive from the dead and ready to advance in spirit- 
ual life. They are addressed to-day only to such as 
have been awakened, pardoned, regenerated, and 
adopted, and are ready to make the believer's con- 
secration and obtain "the new name," or the entire 
sanctification of their souls. 

The words assume that Christians must — 
Advance in the divine life. — Believers are as 
positively commanded to advance in the relig- 
ious life as sinners are commanded to commence 
it. Sinners are urged in the most solemn manner 
to repent and believe the gospel, or to submit to 
God and receive Christ as their personal Saviour, 
and thus enter upon the Christian life. Believers 



STEPS TO THE NEW NAME. 15 

are just as solemnly urged to grow in grace, to run 
with patience the race that is set before them, to 
cleanse themselves from all filthiness of the flesh 
and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of the 
Lord. These, and commands of like import, are 
pressed upon believers, showing that the religious 
life is a progressive one, and a failure to advance 
is to lose all. 

The passage also assumes that to advance in 
spirituality the Christian must — 

"Yield" himself unto Grod. — This brings to 
view the true, scriptural method of religious 
progress, and contrasts sharply with the counsels 
of the average religious teacher. Class leaders, and 
others having in charge the instruction of young 
converts, are apt to place a heavy emphasis upon 
attending class meetings, prayer meetings, the 
preaching of the Word, and doing other duties 
which belong to the Christian life. And this is 
wholesome counsel, provided it be kept in its 
proper place as secondary to heart loyalty. But if 
brought to the front, and the state of the heart 
be pushed to the background, these duties soon 
become irksome, and are either dropped entirely 
or practised perfunctorily, without any conscious 
spiritual progress. The apostolic counsel is to 
yield unto God, to preserve right moral relations, 
and keep the heart in a healthy spiritual state as a 
primary necessity; then the religious exercises 
named will profit the believer. 



16 THE NEW NAME. 

Many good people, in the rush and hurry of 
business pursuits, gradually lose the joy and sweet- 
ness of divine communion, and become painfully 
conscious that they are receding in their religious 
experience instead of progressing, and they cry 
unto the Lord for help. And they are almost 
sure to ask for the return of their former joys, and 
pray and wait for weeks and months ; but still they 
mourn their unsatisfactory state, and wonder why 
the Lord does not answer their prayers. They 
do not suspect that business cares and worldly 
interests have vitiated their heart loyalty and 
disjointed their former relations with God ; hence 
their failure to recover divine fellowship. They 
have commenced at the wrong end ; they should 
yield themselves unto God, and, by close heart 
searching, place themselves in an attitude to 
receive the coveted favor. This done, very little 
praying brings the blessings; and not done, no 
amount of praying can prevail: hence, the first 
thing to be done in recovering lost spirituality, or 
in increasing the volume and power of the Chris- 
tian graces, is to yield unto God. 

In the further study of this subject, it will be 
noticed that it is not service or property that is to 
be yielded, but — 

" Yield yourselves" unto Grod. — Very generally 
when the Spirit reveals to Christians their need 
of deeper spirituality, and prompts them to seek 
it, they think of more and better service, of 



STEPS TO THE NEW NAME. 17 

larger gifts of money to benevolent enterprises, 
and closer attention to the various means of grace. 
And though improvement on all these lines may 
be greatly needed and must have attention, still 
these matters do not come directly to view in the 
text. It is the presentation of ourselves, and not 
one tenth of our income, nor one seventh of our 
time, nor any other fractional part of time or money 
that we are asked to yield unto God. He demands 
ourselves ; and with ourselves He gets all we have 
and are, and all we ever will be and have. 

In view of the infinite interest at stake in this 
matter, it is vital that we view the word " your- 
selves " as used by the apostle distributively and 
not collectively. A body of believers will readily 
go forward in mass to the altars of the church for 
the purpose of yielding themselves as a society to 
God for Christian work, and yet not one make it 
a truly personal matter. Such an exercise, how- 
ever commendable as encouragement to others to 
do the same, will not bring the heart into contact 
with God, and, of course, must fail to get the new 
name. 

It is next to be observed that the believer who 
would make progress, especially if he would grasp 
the new name, must — 

Yield himself "unto God" — There is a radical 
difference between yielding self to some particular 
work of God and yielding to God Himself. 
And just here many are ensnared, and, possi- 



18 THE NEW NAME. 

bly, forever ruined, because of inattention to this 
distinction. When sinners are convicted of sin 
and the necessity of living Christian lives, they 
often cast about to see what particular line of reli- 
gious work comes within their capacity and tastes ; 
and, after making a selection, they abandon a few 
or more of their sinful practices, join a church, and 
enter upon their self-chosen line of good works. 
They then call themselves Christians, and, without 
any spirituality whatever, they drag out a misera- 
ble, prayerless life in the church, and that because 
they made the mistake of yielding themselves to a 
religious work instead of yielding themselves unto 
God. 

So, when believers are convinced of their need 
of entire sanctification, they may, without proper 
care, yield themselves to the task of doing better 
service, or to very great attention to some reli- 
gious specialty, and call themselves consecrated to 
God, when they are merely given to some self- 
chosen Christian work, and really know nothing 
about submission of the will to God. And here 
we find one of the sources of that shallow or 
spurious sanctification which afflicts the church in 
some places, and utterly fails in making its subjects 
loving and happy. 

The text requires a yielding unto God; and 
when the consecration is really to Him, we may 
expect such a deliverance from the self-life, and 
such an inward conformity to God and His arrange- 



STEPS TO THE NEW NAME. 19 

ments and plans, that we gladly accept any work 
which He may choose for us. With this kind of 
surrender and acceptance of the will of God, failing 
health and accumulating years, which may require 
us to abandon some favorite line of Christian work 
for another better suited to our failing powers, will 
not make us miserable ; for though the work fails 
us, our God never will. This is the yielding which 
is necessary to secure the new name, and make the 
believer a partaker of the divine nature in the 
highest and best sense. 

Lastly, it must be noted that the manner of this 
is — 

"As those that are alive from the dead." — 
The Greek word rendered u are alive " is a present 
participle of the active voice, and not only expresses 
the principle of life, but that principle in action. 
This indicates that the characters appropriately 
addressed in the passage under study are living, 
acting, working Christians, who can see the pro- 
priety, feel the necessity, and enjoy the exercise of 
yielding unto God. 

The Greek word translated "yield" in this text 
is the same word which is rendered "present" in 
the first verse of the twelfth chapter of this Epistle. 
There the reading is, "I beseech you therefore, 
brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present 
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto 
God, which is your reasonable service." Here, as 
well as there, it might read, " Present yourselves 



20 THE NEW NAME. 

unto God as those that are alive from the dead, 
which is your reasonable service." The thought 
is, as the service is reasonable, in accordance with 
the nature of things in harmony with the spiritual 
affinities and the religious impulses of truly regen- 
erated persons, that true Christians will joyfully 
present themselves as offerings to God. They will 
not feel such repugnancy to the service as sinners 
feel in surrendering to God and accepting Christ. 
They can do it " as those that are alive from the 
dead;" and in doing it, may expect the new name. 
It will be seen, in this hasty discussion of the 
subject, that the great matter of concern in preserv- 
ing and advancing in spiritual life is to guard the 
heart and keep in a state of loyalty to God. With- 
out this, any amount of religious labor and sacrifice 
must signally fail ; with it, the cup of cold water 
has its reward. 



CHAPTEE III. 

JACOB AND THE NEW NAME. 

THERE were two marked epochs in the religious 
history of Jacob. The first of these took place 
at Luz, and is viewed by some biblical expositors 
as his conversion. The other took place at Jabbok, 
and is viewed by the same exegetes as his entire 
sanctification. There is another class of religious 
teachers, however, who contend that Jacob was 
not converted until he wrestled with the angel and 
obtained his new name. And the notion that 
entire sanctification is identical, or at least coetane- 
ous, with conversion, compels this view. It is 
proposed, therefore, to inquire for the true nature 
of those gracious works which were done for this 
patriarch at those places which he respectively 
named Bethel and Penuel. 

The gracious work done at Bethel. — In search- 
ing the inspired records for Jacob's religious 
state at any time, it must not be forgotten that 
religious character under that dark dispensation 
included much less of the divine nature than 
religious character under the dispensation of the 
Holy Ghost. This is true of both the justified and 



22 THE NEW NAME. 

entirely sanctified states. The inspired record of 
King Asa is that his heart was perfect all his days ; 
yet he did some things which, if done now by any 
civil officer claiming religious perfection, would 
shock the Christian conscience of the whole coun- 
try. So, for a truly regenerated person to act now 
as Jacob did in some respects with his father-in- 
law would brand him as a knavish hypocrite. 
But certain facts took place with Jacob the first 
night after he left the parental home, and certain 
records are made of him while he sojourned with 
Laban, that cannot be explained upon any other 
supposition than a genuine conversion. Some of 
these facts will now be stated. 

On the first night of his journey to Padanaram, 
Jacob was, according to the narrative, in great dis- 
tress of mind, and it drove him to God in prayer. 
Some years afterward, and after the reconciliation 
of Esau, in referring to this time and the experi- 
ence which he had upon the occasion, Jacob said 
to his household at Succoth, " Let us arise and go 
up to Bethel ; and I will make there an altar unto 
God, who answered me in the day of my distress, 
and was with me in the way which I went." In 
this statement every reader can see, what Jacob 
declares either directly or inferentially, that he 
called upon God, that God answered him, that He 
saved him from his distress, and that thereafter 
He was with him in his journey and in his domes- 
tic and business life. 



JACOB AND THE NEW NAME. 23 

The method of this divine answer to Jacob's 
prayer is distinctly stated, and proves the verity of 
his regeneration at that time. Besides showing 
him a communication between heaven and earth, 
and angels passing and repassing, God revealed 
himself at the head of this communication, and 
personally addressed the patriarch. He renewed 
with him the Abrahamic covenant, and gave this 
special promise : " Behold, I am with thee, and 
will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and 
will bring thee again into this land." This con- 
vinced Jacob of God's real presence in that place, 
and led him to say, because he had experienced 
the fact, " This is none other but the house of 
God, and this is the gate of heaven." Hence he 
called the place Bethel, or house of God, because 
he felt his personal adoption into the divine house- 
hold, or family; and with a true convert's love and 
zeal, which would do something for the Lord, he 
made a vow, which God signally approved by mak- 
ing it a law of benevolence for the Jewish people 
in after ages. 

From this night onward, Jacob viewed himself 
as in favor with God, as proved by statements 
incidently made and bearing upon this subject. 
When he saw Laban's countenance turned against 
him, and the trouble it was likely to cause him, he 
said to his wives, "But the God of my father 
hath been with me." And again : " Your father 
hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten 



24 THE NEW NAME. 

times, but God suffered him not to hurt me." It 
is clear from these avowals that Jacob believed 
that God's presence and protection were extended 
to him during all his time with Laban, whatever 
may have been the artifice that appeared in some 
of his transactions. It would seem enough, to 
establish the Old Testament piety of Jacob, that 
Laban himself had undoubted confidence in his 
son-in-law's religion ; for he said to him, " I have 
learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed 
me for thy sake." And it is no feeble argument 
for the genuineness of his piety that Jacob's wives 
believed that their husband was in favor and 
fellowship with God ; for when he consulted them 
about the propriety of leaving Padanaram and 
their father's house, they said unto him, "Now 
then, whatsoever God hath said unto thee, do." 
It is clear from this past tense, "hath said," that 
Jacob's wives believed that their husband's past 
habits of life were to seek divine guidance, and 
that he, true to his habits, had sought it in this 
time of need. 

But more convincing than all this is God's own 
testimony to Jacob's communion and fellowship 
with Him. God spake to him in these words : " I 
am the God of Bethel, where thou anointedst the 
pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me ; 
now arise and get thee out of this land, and return 
unto the land of thy kindred." Again, the Lord 
said unto him, " Return unto the land of thy 



JACOB AND THE NEW NAME. 25 

fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with 
thee." True to this promise, when Jacob was on 
the way to his native land, and Laban was in pur- 
suit of him, God appeared to Laban, and said to 
him, " Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob 
either good or bad." And after they had entered 
into a covenant of peace, and Jacob passed on his 
journey, it is recorded, " And Jacob went on his 
way, and the angels of God met him. And when 
Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's part." 
He recognized them as " ministering spirits " sent 
forth to minister to him and assure him of his 
safety. 

Hence Jacob had divine protection on his jour- 
ney homeward, as well as on his way to Padan- 
aram and while he was in the service of Laban. 
Surely all this could not be predicated of, or take 
place with, an unrepentant and unregenerated sin- 
ner. Yet with all this evidence of true devotion 
to God, no o*ie can believe, in view of the artifice 
practised in some of his transactions with his 
father-in-law, that Jacob was at this time delivered 
from all knavish dispositions. This deliverance 
did not take place till he wrestled with the angel 
and received his new name. 

This brings to an inquiry into the nature of — 

The gracious work done for Jacob at Penuel. 

— It will be observed that neither at Luz or Jab- 

bok did Jacob pray for any divine work to be 

wrought in him, but at the former place he sought 



26 THE NEW NAME. 

relief from great mental distress, and at the latter 
place he sought deliverance from the fear of Esau. 
The first prayer could not be answered with such 
a revelation of the divine plan of saving men as 
charmed Jacob into covenant relations with God. 
This removed his distress, as a scriptural covenant 
with God always does. The second prayer could 
not be answered without imparting to the suppliant 
the perfect love which casts out fear, and this had 
to be preceded by the removal of the old tricky 
dispositions and the impartation of a nature 
expressed by the new name. With this he pre- 
vailed with God, and melted the heart of his 
incensed brother into love. 

The inspired record, though exceedingly brief, 
furnishes enough of this Jabbok experience to 
leave no doubt as to the nature of the gracious 
work done at that time and place. He was left 
alone, a very necessary condition to see God 
face to face. In this lone condition he pressed 
the petition, commenced a few hours before : 
" Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my 
brother, from the hand of Esau ; for I fear him, 
lest he will come and smite me, and the mother 
with the children." This pleading took the form 
of wrestling with a man, called, by Hosea, "the 
angel," before whom " he wept and made supplica- 
tion unto him" (Hos. 12:4). In wrestling, the 
aim of each is to overcome and conquer the others ; 
and in the wrestling under consideration, Jacob 



JACOB AND THE NEW NAME. 27 

aimed to overcome and get the desired deliverance, 
and the angel aimed to humble Jacob, and put 
him in a condition to receive the very grace for 
which he was pleading. 

Either from ignorance of the nature of the con- 
test, or from a stubbornness of his perverse nature, 
Jacob would not yield. The angel, seeing this, 
and how hard it was for his poor human nature to 
yield to God, adopted more vigorous measures ; He 
reached forth His hand, and, with a mere touch, 
dislocated the strongest joint in Jacob's body. But 
Jacob wrestled on ; for it is stated, " Jacob's thigh 
was out of joint as he wrestled with him." By 
and by the morning dawned, and the angel imper- 
atively said, " Let me go, for the day breaketh." 
This drove Jacob to a kind of desperation, and he 
said, " I will not let thee go except thou bless me." 
In this dire extremity the angel, Jehovah Jesus, 
finds His opportunity, and asks the question, 
"What is thy name? " Jacob was not ready for 
this question at midnight, nor at three o'clock in 
the morning ; but now, at the break of day, and in 
full view of utter failure by the angel's departure, 
he is ready to answer, and expose the true inward- 
ness of his nature. " And he said, Jacob," — sup- 
planter, trickster, rascal. 

It is one thing to confess sin in a general way, 
and quite another thing to open the heart and 
expose all its perversity and uncleanness without 
any apology or comment. This confession Jacob 



28 THE NEW NAME. 

made, and witli it gave the implied pledge that he 
would make all possible restitution to his brother 
and others whom he may have tricked. He is 
completely conquered, given over to Jehovah 
Jesus, and received the new name expressive of 
his new nature. He is conquered of God, and 
becomes conqueror and unconquerable. This 
having taken place, he drops the petition for a 
blessing and deliverance from the fear of Esau, 
and inquires for the name, the character, and 
nature of the strange, and, to him now, most 
lovely and adorable wrestler. To him now nothing 
seems worthy of his pursuit but the divine name, 
or possession of the divine nature. So no believer 
ever comes into the possession of the peace and joy 
of perfected holiness while seeking them for happi- 
ness, or even for the more noble purpose of being 
useful, but must seek holiness for its own sake, for 
what it is in itself. " Be ye holy," says God, " for 
I am holy." And not until the seeker forgets the 
matter of happiness and usefulness, and craves 
and seeks God alone, does he find the coveted 
grace. 

At that particular juncture of his Jabbok expe- 
rience, when Jacob inquires for the name of the 
wrestler, his attention is directed away from him- 
self wholly, and he does not seem conscious of the 
marvellous work wrought in his heart. To call his 
attention to it, the angel said to him, " Wherefore 
is it that thou dost ask after my name ? " Or, how 



JACOB AND THE NEW NAME. 29 

is it that you have abandoned your former petition 
and object of pursuit, and are taken up with an 
entirely different matter? This called Jacob's 
attention to the altered state of his mind, and the 
new affinities of his heart, and the discovery of the 
great change which had taken place awakens 
happy emotions and joyful feelings. Hence it is 
said, as something which took place after the 
nature was changed and the new name given, 
"And he blessed him there." The blessing 
referred to was the simple consciousness of the 
great deliverance, a fruit of the gracious work 
done in the heart. He was saved from the Jacob 
nature, he was sanctified wholly, and the result 
was peace and rest and joy in the Holy Ghost. 
He was greatly blessed. 

The first thing Jacob did after the great change 
and blessing, was to declare it by the statement, "I 
have seen God face to face, and my life is pre- 
served." And to declare it to his posterity, and 
all the generations to come, he named the place 
Penuel, and in this way sends his testimony ring- 
ing down the ages ; and it gives an inspiration to 
Christendom at this distant century. The next 
thing he did was to commence action by passing 
over Penuel ; and as he did this, " the sun rose upon 
him," and he found himself a weak, feeble creature, 
halting and limping at what had been the strongest 
part of his body. But with all this he has power 
with God, and a strange witchery which subdued 
and melted his enraged brother into tears and kisses. 



30 THE NEW NAME. 

There are many practical and supremely valua- 
ble lessons to be learned from this narrative, some 
of which may be stated. 

1. It teaches the great need of inward purity. 
If Jacob had fellowship with God, and was pro- 
tected by angels, yet needed entire sanctification, 
so do all others who have a like experience, but are 
not " perfect and entire, wanting nothing." 

2. To obtain this grace and get the new name 
requires the most earnest and diligent pursuit. 
The struggling and wrestling of Jacpb constitute 
a divine portraiture of what the grace of holiness 
costs every one who receives it. Feeble purposes 
and sickly efforts amount to nothing in this pursuit. 

3. To bring Christians to the purpose and 
effort necessary to find the experience of holiness, 
the Lord often has to smite the strongest faculty, 
blast the most valuable possession, or remove the 
most endearing loved one. 

4. This grace is never found until the seeker 
gets his attention from all blessings, and seeks 
God alone as the supreme good. 

5. The grace of holiness humbles its subjects 
into the dust, as they find themselves poor, feeble 
creatures, halting at what they supposed were the 
strongest points in their nature. 

6. As the entirely sanctified proceed to act, 
the sun rises upon them ; and as they limp along, 
they soon find all necessary strength in the new 
and " unutterable name." 



CHAPTEE IV. 

THE NEW NAME A GRANT OF MERCY. 

SCRIPTURAL salvation is a deliverance from 
the guilt, the power, and inbeing of sin. It is 
a divine work wrought in the heart by the Holy 
Spirit. It is not produced by the natural processes 
of culture and discipline, but by the supernatural 
methods of regeneration and renewing of the Holy 
Ghost. This is the clear teaching of all the inspired 
writers ; and as a sample of their utterances upon 
this subject, and as a directory for our study of the 
theme, we may quote Paul's statement to Titus 
(chap. 3: 5): "Not by works of righteousness 
which we have done, but according to his mercy he 
saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renew- 
ing of the Holy Ghost." It will be observed that 
the apostle presents this method of salvation both 
negatively and positively, and this indicates the 
proper order of our investigations of the subject. 

Negatively. — "Not by works of righteousness 
which we have done." Through these good works 
and righteous acts, by the divine blessing, our 
moral habits may be greatly improved, but our 
natures will not be changed and purified. The 



32 THE NEW NAME. 

crab may be greatly improved in its appearance 
and quality by fruit culture, — by grafting it into 
a healthy, golden sweet, — but it will still be a 
crab, with no essential quality changed. So persons 
may be born of Christian parents, educated in 
Christian schools, trained in Christian churches, 
and thus made good and worthy citizens, yet know 
nothing of the salvation of the gospel. With a 
high order of culture and moral excellence they 
may be the slaves of inward passion and lusts, and 
wholly disqualified for the abodes of the pure. 
And thousands to-day are mistaking for true reli- 
gion and spiritual life these moral excellencies, 
which are to be commended and cultivated, and 
which always accompany true devotion to God. 

But important and necessary as this moral cul- 
ture is in the family circle, in the social sphere, and 
business life, and important a part of practical Chris- 
tianity as it is, apart from inward spiritual life, 
there is nothing saving in its character, but is styled 
" filthy rags " in the kingdom of grace. A scrip- 
tural salvation is a radical change of the nature, or 
a destruction of the carnal man and an impartation 
of the divine nature, and not a mere improvement 
of inborn or acquired moral excellence. Salvation 
is infinitely more than the highest possible moral 
culture. Hence the apostle says — 

Affirmatively. — " He saved us by the wash- 
ing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy 
Ghost." These words authorize us, in speaking of 



A GRANT OF MERCY. 33 

the soul's complete recovery from sin, to speak of 
it in three stages : first, regeneration ; second, "the 
washing of regeneration ; " and third, " the renew- 
ing of the Holy Ghost." What, then, are the gra- 
cious works here indicated? 

1. Regeneration. — Regeneration implies genera- 
tion; and "generation" means "begetting life." 
Regeneration is, therefore, a re-begetting life, or be- 
getting life again ; and, in its application to the sub- 
ject undei consideration, it means the restoration 
of the spiritual life, which we forfeit by our volun- 
tary transgressions after we reach responsible life. 
Children come into the world not only innocent, 
but with a spiritual life communicated through the 
provisions of the atonement. " For as by one man's 
disobedience many were made sinners, so by the 
obedience of one shall many be made righteous." 
The spirituality lost to the race by Adam's trans- 
gression is restored to the race by Christ's obedience. 
Bat there is transmitted from parents to children a 
bias to wrong-doing- which co-exists with their 
spiritual life and innocence, and which develops 
into actual sins when the years of accountability 
are reached. 

Every observer has noticed in the young human 
life a mixture of moral elements, or a two-fold moral 
nature alternately controlling the child. At one 
time the pure predominates and the image of the 
heavenly is apparent ; but in a short time the evil 
has control, and the old Adam appears. At one 



34 THE NEW NAME. 

time we say of the child, " of such is the kingdom 
of heaven," and perhaps the next moment we feel 
like repeating the prayer of the baptismal ritual, 
" Wash and sanctify" this child. We cannot ask 
for it forgiveness, for it is innocent; nor can we 
ask the Lord to give it spiritual life, for it has this ; 
hence we instinctively ask for the removal of the 
evil nature, or its entire purification. This is its 
supreme need. 

When responsible life is reached, and the child 
yields to this evil nature, it contracts guilt, becomes 
dead in trespasses and sins, and thus arises the 
necessity for repentance and regeneration, or the 
restoration of lost spirituality. Hence regeneration 
has exclusive reference to the recovery of lost 
spiritual life. 

The washing of regeneration. — This means more 
than regeneration. It expresses not only lost 
spirituality recovered, but also a cleansing from 
abnormal appetites, from acquired tendencies to 
excess, and from all other forms of sin which actual 
trangressions have superinduced. Such a cleans- 
ing is necessary to free the converted sinner from 
an almost certain repetition of his actual sins in 
the future, and to restore him to the moral relation 
and condition of his infancy. And such a relation 
and state the Saviour insists every sinner must 
reach to be admitted to membership in the divine 
family. His language is, " Except ye be converted, 
and become as little children, ye shall not enter 



A GRANT OF MERCY. 35 

into the kingdom of heaven." This might be worded, 
and preserve the Saviour's meaning, M Except ye be 
converted, and receive the washing of regeneration, 
ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." 
Every one can see that religious vitality and a 
deliverance from acquired or contracted depravity, 
are both necessary to restore sinners to the moral 
condition of infancy. 

Now, as a matter of fact, experienced by many, 
and observed in the lives of others, what we call 
conversion, or regeneration, does not always free 
the penitent believer from unnatural appetites and 
other acquired tendencies to evil. The whiskey 
habit, the opium habit, and contracted habits of 
other forms of evil, clamor for indulgence, and 
often overcome professing Christians. They need 
the washing of regeneration ; and, with proper light 
upon this subject, they could not claim a place in 
the kingdom of grace until they experienced a 
deliverance from these vices. In other cases this 
cleansing takes place at the time of conversion. 
According to the testimony of many of the 
Murphy converts and other Christians, this deliv- 
erance was experienced coetaneous with their 
regeneration, and some were induced by their 
brethren to claim entire sanctification ; but in many 
of these cases the sanctification proved spurious, 
and disappointed both the claimants and their 
churches. 

The inborn bias to wrong doing, which is found 



36 THE NEW NAME. 

in the child nature, still remained, and showed 
itself in a want of pleasure and power in Christian 
work, in affinities for worldly pleasure, and in 
luke-warmness and backslidings. This washing 
of regeneration, which cleanses from evil habits, 
and restores the innocence and purity of infancy, 
does not complete the work of salvation in the 
heart. As the infant has a bias to evil, so one 
restored to the same moral state has the same bias, 
which must be removed by entire sanctification. 
The moral need of the infant nature is not regen- 
eration, but entire sanctification ; and the moral 
need of an adult believer in the same moral con- 
dition of " little children " is the same, or, entire 
purification. 

This leads to a notice of the last stage in this 
work : viz., — 

The renewing of the Holy Grhost. — By this 
is meant the removal of the sinward tendencies 
with which we were born, and which remain after 
the work of regeneration and the washing of re- 
generation has taken place. It also expresses the 
incoming, the inworking, and indwelling of the 
Holy Ghost, the Comforter. This is not a mere 
gratuitous notion or statement for which there is 
no Scriptural warrant, but is the clear teaching 
of both the Old and New Testaments. God's 
promise to His ancient people was, " A new heart 
also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put 
within you ; and I will put my Spirit within you, 



A GRANT OF MERCY. 37 

and cause jou to walk in my statutes." He 
promised to put His Spirit in their new spirit, and 
hold them in their proper sphere. This is the 
renewing of the Holy Ghost after the washing of 
regeneration. The promise to His modern people 
is, " If ye love me, keep my commandments. And 
I will pray the Father, and He shall give you 
another Comforter, that he may abide with you 
forever." This is the incoming, the inworking, 
and indwelling expressed in the " renewing of the 
Holy Ghost." 

This is the gracious work of the Spirit, which 
supplements all His previous operations on the 
heart, and completes the work of saving the soul 
from both the act of sinning and a state of sin- 
fulness. It is a work of the blessed Spirit which 
puts the believer into a sweet rest, and at the same 
time into a sweet restlessness to spread the great 
salvation. 

Let it be noticed lastly, that, by this divine grant 
of mercy, He saves — 

Abundantly. — "According to his mercy he 
saves us," and not according to our worth, or 
merit, or something else. It is often said, " We enjoy 
all the religion we live for." But while this is in- 
tended to state a great truth, and does, if properly 
qualified and guarded, nevertheless it is very 
liable to mislead. There are thousands of Chris- 
tians who are painfully conscious that their outer 
life is better and more Scriptural than their inner 



38 THE NEW NAME. 

state. There is some heart disloyalty or insub- 
ordination of the will which prevents them from 
enjoying all the religion they live for. Then, on 
the other hand, there are many whose enjoyment 
and spiritual state, because of ignorance concern- 
ing gospel requirements, are better and more 
evangelical than their Christian deportment. Con- 
sequently these persons enjoy more religion than 
they live for, when judged by the gospel standard. 
The Scripture directing our study affirms, and ex- 
perience confirms, it, that it is according to His 
mercy He saves believers, and not according to any 
other standard. The ignorance, the unbelief, and 
unwillingness of Christians to receive, may prevent 
it, but the measure of God's will to save is 
" according to his mercy." 

His mercy is as vast and limitless as Himself, 
and it is after the manner and style of infinitude 
that He saves. Hence the Spirit, in His awakening 
office, so clearly convinces the sinner of his sins, 
that no logic or sophistry can persuade him to the 
contrary while the light is shining. He knows that 
he is a sinner. So when He pardons, He " abun- 
dantly pardons;'' or, as the margin reads, a He 
multiplies to pardon," and would pardon all our 
sins though they were a thousand-fold more enor- 
mous. So in His work of regeneration and entire 
sanctification, God is supremely lavish of His 
grace, and bestows it with an infinite prodigality. 

" There is a wideness in God's mercy, 
Like the wideness of the sea." 



A GRANT OF MERCY. 39 

The Scripture statements upon this subject, 
when stripped of their familiarity, and their deep 
meaning perceived, are absolutely overwhelming. 
Take as an instance, " God is able to make all 
grace abound toward you ; that ye, always having 
all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every 
good work " (2 Cor. 9:8). " Now unto him that 
is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that 
we ask or think, according to the power that 
worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by 
Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without 
end. Amen." 



CHAPTER V. 

TAKING OX THE NEW NAME. 

PAUL is the only inspired writer who has used 
the expressions " old man " and " new man " 
as designations of moral character, and he in 
very few connections. In his letter to the 
Colossians, in giving certain rules for Christian 
conduct, he says, u Lie not one to another, see- 
ing that ye have put off the old man with his 
deeds ; and have put on the new man, which 
is renewed in knowledge after the image of 
him that created him " (3 : 9, 10). In his letter to 
the church at Ephesus, we read, "That ye put 
off concerning the former conversation the old 
man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful 
lusts ; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind ; 
and that ye put on the new man, which after 
God is created in righteousness and true holiness " 
(4:22-24). 

In these Scriptures the apostle urges the reader 
to a certain condition which is reached by putting 
off the old man, being renewed in the spirit of the 
mind, and putting on the new man. These exhor- 
tations, therefore, open to view the three great 
stages in the process of saving the soul from sin- 



TAKING ON THE NEW NAME. 41 

ning and sinfulness. In studying these stages of 
the saving process let us notice : — 

Putting off the old man. By the old man the 
apostle means the carnal nature, the sinful prin- 
ciple with which human beings are born, which first 
leads them astray, and ever after, while it remains 
in the heart, prompts to sinful actions. It is said 
of this old man that he " is corrupt according to 
the deceitful lusts." 

The Greek word rendered "is corrupt " is a pres- 
ent participle in the passive voice, and would liter- 
ally read, "is being continually corrupted," or, "is 
growing worse and worse." Hence our apostle says 
in another letter, " Evil men and seducers shall wax 
worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." 
And in the passage suggesting these remarks it is 
said that this corrupting process is to proceed 
according to "the deceitful lusts," or, more literally, 
according to the promptings or violent impulses of 
a certain particular artifice, the guile and deceit 
of the old serpent. This is the character and drift- 
ing of the old man. 

It will be noticed that at this point of the saving 
process it is "the former conversation" of the old 
man that is to be put off. Conversation in this 
connection, and very generally in the inspired 
writings, means the demeanor, or manner of life; 
and consequently it is practical and evangelical 
repentance that is here pressed upon the reader. 
It is the act of utterly abandoning every simple 



42 THE NEW NAME. 

habit contracted under the domination of the car- 
nal nature, that the apostle has in his mind at this 
juncture, and without riddance from all objection- 
able practices true religious life cannot commence. 
This, therefore, is the first stage in the saving 
process. The next is, — 

Being renewed in the spirit of the mind. — If 
all professing Christians would clear their lives of 
objectionable practices, the churches would be in 
vastly better condition than they now are ; and if 
they would take into their conduct and demeanor 
all religious duties, Christendom would be, as con- 
trasted with its present self, a thing of beauty in 
the earth. But the Scriptures heading this article 
require very much more than an unobjectionable 
outer life. The greatest amount of good works, 
without heavenly mindedness, will be accounted 
as "filthy rags in the kingdom" of grace, and 
will not serve as a passport to the skies. " Many 
will say unto me in that day," says the Saviour, 
"Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy 
name ? and in thy name cast out devils ? and in thy 
name done many wonderful works ? And then I 
will profess unto them, I never knew you : depart 
from me, ye that work iniquity.' ' These words 
furnish to the Church the low estimate which the 
Divine Being places upon good works which do 
not spring from a pure inward life, but from some 
other motive power. The sinful nature must be 
destroyed, and a pure and heavenly spirit must 
take its place. 



TAKING ON THE NEW NAME. 43 

It must be noted that the renewal or impartation 
of new life which the apostle urges must extend 
to the spirit of the mind, or to the substratum of 
the soul. This renewal is not a mere improvement 
or rebuilding of the old character, but an imparta- 
tion of the divine nature and life to the soul. It 
is such a work in the heart as gives to its subjects 
new affinities, new relishes, new affections, reverses 
the former impulses and movements of the soul, 
and sends it drifting towards the pure and heav- 
enly. Envy, jealousy, hatred, ill-will, revenge, 
and all perverse dispositions, give place to love, 
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, and 
all other graces of the Spirit. This is Scriptural 
regeneration, and embraces so much that is God- 
like, it is not strange that many who have not 
studied the subject closely under the illuminations 
of the Spirit, should conclude that this work in- 
cludes entire sanctification as well as justification. 

It requires, however, no very close scrutiny to 
discover, even with such an experience, cross-cur- 
rents in the nature, and, occasionally, impulses and 
promptings to questionable indulgences, which give 
pain to earnest believers and lead them to say with 
Charles Wesley, — 

" Speak, gracious Lord, my sickness cure; 
Make my infected nature pure." 

Hence the Scriptures under study insist on 
something more than putting off the old man and 



44 THE NEW NAME. 

being renewed in the spirit of the mind. They 
insist on another and final stage in the process of 
the soul's complete deliverance: viz., — 

Putting on the new man. — The expression, 
" Put on the new man," is not a repetition of the 
order just given in the words, " Be renewed in 
the spirit of your mind," with a mere change in 
phraseology, but expresses a different and more ad- 
vanced gracious state. Those who confound entire 
sanctification with regeneration must contend that 
these two phrases are identical in meaning. That 
this is an error, that they are not intended to be 
synonymes, nor exegetical of each other, is proved 
by the simple structure of the apostle's language, 
to say nothing here of the theology involved, and 
the facts of Christian experience in the matter. 
The two expressions are joined by a copulative 
conjunction, which, in the English language, is a 
cumulative participle, and its use always indicates 
something more to follow. 

When, therefore, the apostle says, "Be ye re- 
newed in the spirit of your mind," " And put on 
the new man," he means something additional to 
renewal, or he abuses the language and makes 
statements that are misleading. But so far from 
this, he uses the phrase u put on the new man" to 
press the same gracious state for which he inquired 
when he said to the Ephesian converts, " Have ye 
received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? " or the 
same had in his mind when he prayed for the church 



TAKING ON THE NEW NAME. 45 

at Thessalonica : u The very God of peace sanctify 
you wholly ; and I pray God your whole spirit and 
soul and body be preserved blameless unto the com- 
ing of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

This new man is u after God created in righteous- 
ness and true holiness." He is not a mere improve- 
ment of the old man, nor the old man reconstructed, 
but a new creation. The word rendered " created " 
is a radical word, and indicates original creation. 
Take, as an example of its use, Heb. 11 : 3, where it 
is rendered " formed," and where the reading is, 
" Through faith we understand that the worlds 
were formed by the word of God, so that things 
which are seen were not made of things which do 
appear." So the apostle would have his readers 
understand that the things which are seen in the 
character and life of this new man M were not made 
of things which do appear," or of material found in 
the old nature. He is a new creation, made after a 
divine pattern ; his righteousness and holiness are 
the outbeamings of the indwelling Christ ; the new 
creation is the incoming and inworking of the 
Comforter, eliminating and removing every vestige 
of the carnal mind, drying up all counter-currents 
felt by the regenerated believer, and acting out His 
own pure life in the spirit and demeanor of purified 
persons. This completes the saving work, but 
does not end progress in the divine life ; rather, it 
prepares for rapid changing " unto the same image 
from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord." 



46 THE NEW NAME. 

There is a vital matter disclosed in the tenses of 
the verbs used in the apostle's language that ought 
not to be overlooked. The verbs expressing " put- 
ting off " and " putting on " are in the aorist tense, 
which denotes finished action. The " putting off " 
and the " putting on," therefore, are not continu- 
ous exercises, as affirmed by some commentators 
and religious teachers, but finished work. The 
verbs expressing "renewed in the spirit of the 
mind, ,, and " renewed in knowledge/' are in the 
present tense, and indicate continuous or progres- 
sive work. Christian progress is not, therefore, in 
constantly putting " off the old " and putting " on 
the new man," but in the growth and develop- 
ment of " the new man " after he is put on once 
for all. But as the purified Christian will con- 
tinually cast off, " by little and little," defects and 
blemishes as they are discovered, and will, in the 
same way, take on new excellences as they are dis- 
covered in the character of the great Exemplar, 
to the natural reason this seems a continual putting 
" off the old " and a continual putting on " the new 
man." 

There is, however, a radical distinction between 
putting away infirmities as they are discovered, 
and casting off sinful tendencies and dispositions. 
And faith which unhesitatingly accepts God's 
statements in the case, sees the old man fully cruci- 
fied and destroyed, and the new man fully put on 
once for all, and sees the progress experienced by 



TAKING ON THE NEW NAME. 47 

purified believers to be in the unfolding of the 
Christ life in the clean heart. In other words, 
faith sees no improvement in the quality or char- 
acter of perfected holiness, but an increase in the 
measure or degree as it continues to pervade more 
and more the powers and faculties of purified 
persons. No other view can co-exist with a faith 
that saves fully now; for it is impossible and 
absurd to believe that grace fully saves now, and 
at the same time believe that there must be a con- 
tinuous " putting off the old man," or moral 
impurities, while probation lasts. 

In these matters natural reason and analysis 
must yield, and faith must hold her queenly sway 
in her own proper dominion. And when she does, 
the purified believer does not feel that he is contin- 
ually " putting off the old" and "putting on the 
new, man," but, on the contrary, he has the witness 
that the old man is crucified and cut off, and the 
new man, " the Lord from heaven," in the entirety 
of His saving offices, dwells in him and saves him 
to the uttermost now. 

'* Oh for this love let rocks and hills 
Their lasting silence break, 
And all harmonious human tongues, 
The Saviour's praises speak! " 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE NEW NAME : ANOTHER COMFORTER. 

TN His farewell address to the disciples, our Lord 
A recognizes two stages of spiritual life, or two 
phases of religious experiences. From the dif- 
ferent statements in that address indicative of this 
thought, we may select, as its most complete ex- 
pression, the words, " If ye love me, keep my 
commandments. And I will pray the Father, and 
he shall give you another Comforter, that he may 
abide with you forever ; even the Spirit of truth ; 
whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth 
him not, neither knoweth him : but ye know him, 
for he clwelleth with you, and shall be in you" 
(John 14: 15-17). In these words the Saviour 
makes a clear distinction between regeneration, the 
gracious state which the disciples then had, and 
entire sanctification, which they would receive if 
they continued faithful. Notice — 

The verbiage by which the Saviour designates 
the regenerated state. — He sums up the religious 
condition of the disciples at the time in the follow- 
ing words and phrases : " Love me ; " " Keep my 
commandments ; " A " Comforter ; " " Ye know 



ANOTHER COMFORTER. 49 

him ; " and, " He dwelleth with you." The idea of 
loving God involves the thought of repentance 
and regeneration, by which the carnal mind, which 
is enmity against God, is repressed, and a new life 
imparted which can exercise divine love. Keep- 
ing the commandments is a life of obedience, and 
an outward manifestation of an inward change. 
The conditional promise that they should have 
11 another Comforter," who would abide with them 
forever, supposes that they had a Comforter, but 
with an intermittent or transient presence. The 
statement, "Ye know him ; for he dwelleth with 
you," indicates that, in some sense and in some 
mysterious manner, they already knew and enjoyed 
the " other Comforter," who was promised as a con- 
ditional future good. And the declaration that 
the world cannot receive this other Comforter, 
" because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him," 
proves beyond controversy that the disciples' 
knowledge of this Comforter referred to in the 
words, " Ye know him ; for he dwelleth with you," 
was more than a mere speculative acquaintance 
which any worldling might have. It was a real 
experience of the Spirit's regenerating power and 
adopting love, making their bodies the temples of 
the Holy Ghost. " He dwelleth with you." 

The regenerated or partially sanctified state is 
not that low religious condition which many 
suppose, and which they, supposing they have, but 
have not, treat with careless indifference. Many 



50 THE NEW NAME. 

professing this state of grace will associate with 
almost any company, talk on almost any subject, 
go to almost any place, and show very little appre- 
ciation of the religion which they profess. Indeed, 
so poorly do they appreciate it, and so badly do 
they treat it, that, if it were genuine and scriptural, 
they could not retain it one day. One of the most 
destructive errors of our times is the notion that 
people may be truly religious, though not of the 
highest order, and yet practice some of the popular 
forms of sin, or indulge certain habits which they 
know must be more or less offensive to God. But 
the Saviour's putting of this subject will allow no 
such loose notions, but, on the contrary, presents 
the justified and regenerated state as a very exalted 
one. 

To love God and keep His commandments ex- 
cludes the idea of any voluntary transgression of 
law. To know the Comforter in His regenerating 
and adopting offices is to have a place in the divine 
family, and, " Whosoever is born of God doth not 
commit sin." To have the indwelling of the Com- 
forter is to recognize the body as the temple of the 
Holy Ghost, and hold in subjection to the law of 
God all the instincts, appetites, and senses of the 
animal man, and all the affinities, impulses, and 
propensities of the rational soul. Indeed, the low- 
est gracious state, true penitence, utterly abandons 
all sinning, and practices all such Christian duties 
as come within the capacity and calling of its 
subjects. 



ANOTHER COMFORTER. 51 

This brings us to examine next — 

The verbiage by which the Saviour designates 
the entirely sanctified state. — Upon condition of 
fidelity in the religious state already examined, our 
Lord promised the disciples to pray the Father to 
give them another Comforter, who would abide with 
them forever. This indicates some form of reli- 
gious life and experience in advance of what they 
had, and also that it is not the product of the 
natural process of growth and development, but a 
divine, supernatural work wrought in them by the 
Spirit in answer to the intercessions of Jesus. 
The graces of the Spirit in converted persons 
doubtless increase their volume and power by 
exercise upon appropriate objects, and fidelity in 
Christian life is ever attended with some new and 
more advanced experiences ; but the new experi- 
ence promised in this Scripture is a radically dif- 
ferent thing. It is a work wrought in the soul by 
direct and specific action of the Holy Ghost. 

The nature of this new and advanced spiritual 
state the Saviour designates by these wordings: 
" Another Comforter ; " " Abide with you forever ; " 
" Spirit of truth ; " and, " Shall be in you." What, 
then, is the import of these expressions, and what 
more do they signify than the terms already exam- 
ined as significant of the regenerated state ? 

It will be observed that the Comforter promised and 
yet to come was the Comforter of whom the Saviour 
said, " Ye know him, for he dwelleth with you." 



52 THE NEW NAME. 

Hence the disciples already knew, in some sense, 
and enjoyed the presence of, the coming Comforter. 
This can mean nothing more nor less than that they 
knew Him in His initial work, but had yet to re- 
ceive Him in the fulness of the new dispensation. 
As the other Comforter, He was to come in such 
power and fulness as would remove all unbelief, 
and so clear the spiritual perceptions that the 
presence of the Sanctifier could be constantly dis- 
cerned. The witness of pardon and adoption, 
which in initial religious life is occasionally 
intermittent and beclouded, was, with the other 
Comforter, to be constantly unclouded, and joined 
with the witness to inward purity. 

Moreover, the other Comforter, in His new rela- 
tions and work, was to become pre-eminently the 
Spirit of truth, giving the disciples a deeper insight 
into the Scriptures,, and bringing to their remem- 
brance the saving lessons of the great Teacher. 
This is an element particularly marked in advanced 
Christian experience. The Bible becomes a new 
book to the believer who receives the new name. 
Again, in their former state, the Saviour represents 
the Comforter as dwelling with them ; but in the 
gracious state promised He was to be in them. 
The expressions, "dwelleth with you," and "shall 
be in you," were used, as every reader can see, to 
discriminate between the gracious state then en- 
joyed, and that more desirable and advanced state 
for which the Saviour would pray the Father, and 



ANOTHER COMFORTER. 53 

which they would receive as the reward of their 
fidelity. Hence, "shall be in you" was intended 
to mean very much more than " dwelleth with 

you." 

It is doubtful whether the discriminations here 
made by the great Teacher can be discerned by 
the natural mind. Some exegetes can see no 
difference between " dwelleth with you" and 
"shall be in you," and render the latter phrase by 
the present tense, though authorized by no copy of 
the Greek New Testament now extant. The dis- 
tinction, however, comes clearly within the per- 
ceptions of all Spirit-taught and Spirit-baptized 
persons. Those who have lived some time in initial 
religious life, having experienced its occasional 
defeats and afterwards come into the fulness of 
the blessing of the gospel, have no trouble in un- 
derstanding these remarkable statements of our 
Lord. 

By contrasting the spirit and lives of the dis- 
ciples both before and after the Pentecostal 
baptism, the reader will see how much more the 
Saviour meant by "shall be in you" than by 
" dwelleth with you." And in the contrast he will 
find the clearest definition of the Saviour's words 
in our text, and the most satisfactory illustration 
of His distinction between the two gracious states 
in question. Before the Pentecost the disciples 
had left all and followed Christ, and had, therefore, 
"become sons of God." They had "power and 



54 THE NEW NAME. 

authority over all devils and to cure diseases," and 
were sent forth " preaching the gospel and heal- 
ing everywhere." It is recorded of them that 
" their names were written in heaven ; " that they 
" were not of the world," but " chosen out of the 
world; therefore the world hated" them. Hence 
they were new creatures in Christ Jesus;" never- 
theless they were weak and imperfect Christians. 

Their feeble faith made them cowardly in storm 
and trial, and subjected them to a divine upbraid- 
ing on the very eve of the Pentecost. They 
showed worldly affinities, and " savored not the 
things that be of God, but those that be of men." 
They exhibited unwarrantable ambitions, and 
" disputed among themselves who should be the 
greatest." They were more or less under the 
power of revenge, and would " command fire to 
come down from heaven and consume them" who 
were unfriendly to their Master's cause. Though 
they knew the Spirit in His regenerating and 
adopting work, they did not know Him in His 
purifying and enpowering offices. 

In like manner, by consulting the post-Pente- 
costal history of the disciples, the Saviour's words 
expressing their entirely purified state will be 
clearly defined. A reference to the records will 
show that, after the Pentecostal enduement was re- 
ceived, they were no longer troubled with an in- 
timidating unbelief, but could face, with suitable 
boldness, sanhedrims, prisons, and death. Worldly 



ANOTHER COMFORTER. 55 

affinities were all gone, and humility had taken the 
place of aspirations for place and position. Instead 
of commanding fire from heaven upon the enemies 
of their Lord, the feelings of their hearts toward 
such found expression in the cry of the proto- 
martyr, " Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." 

The Comforter who had heretofore dwelt with 
them, and made their bodies His temple, has now 
entered the substratum of the soul, eliminated and 
expelled inherited depravity, taken possession of 
their spiritual centers, and holds them in their 
proper spheres, just as the God of nature takes 
hold of material worlds, and, from their centers of 
gravitation, holds them in their orbits. They have 
now experienced in their inmost being the Lord's 
promise, " If a man love me, he will keep my words ; 
and my Father will love, him, and we will come 
unto him, and make our abode with hirn." 

It will be seen, therefore, that the Saviour's ver- 
biage expressive of the disciples' condition at the 
time He addressed them, and the verbiage used to 
express their condition after the reception of 
"another Comforter," designated two widely dif- 
ferent states of grace; and that whoever enjoys 
the lower, should, in the way of continued love 
and obedience, expect the higher, or Pentecostal 
purity and power. Hence all believers, from the 
day of their conversion onward, should be urged 
by their religious teachers to press on to perfected 
holiness : and because they are not, many become 



56 THE NEW NAME. 

discouraged in this conflict with inward evils, 
many become weak and sickly, and many backslide 
and fall into spiritual death. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE NEW NAME: PURE LOVE. 

44 Write thy new name upon my heart, 
Thy new, best name of love." 

THIS couplet of Charles Wesley is now found 
among the standard hymns of nearly every ortho- 
dox church in Christendom, and is sung as a 
prayer for the impartation of the divine nature to 
the worshippers, and this nature is love. Of the 
many Scriptures that bring this theme to the 
mind of the reader, there is none that touches the 
subject at so many points, and furnishes a more 
delightful study, than that remarkable passage 
found in 1 Pet. 1 : 22, 23 : " Seeing ye have puri- 
fied your souls in obeying the truth through the 
Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see 
that ye love one another with a pure heart fer- 
vently : being born again, not of corruptible seed, 
but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which 
liveth and abideth forever." 

These words state certain facts in the religious 
experience of the persons addressed, and draw a 
suitable exhortation from them. The facts were : 



58 THE NEW NAME. 

they had been born again of the incorruptible seed 
of the living Word ; they had purified their lives 
by conforming to the Scriptural rules of holy liv- 
ing ; this conformity had been through the aid of 
the Holy Spirit; and the love which they had 
exercised toward the brethren was unfeigned. 
With this experience as a preparatory work, the 
apostle commands them to seek clean hearts, out of 
which this true Christian love might flow towards 
one another in the most ardent form. By prop- 
erly rendering the tenses of the Greek text, and 
changing slightly the order of statement, the 
meaning will be more readily obtained by the 
English reader. This rendering and change give 
the following reading : " Having been born again, 
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through 
the living and enduring word of God, and having 
purified your lives in obeying the truth through the 
Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brotherhood, 
from a clean heart love one another fervently." 
In studying this passage more fully, two themes 
claim attention. 

THE FACTS STATED. 

The persons addressed were "born again, not 
of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word 
of Giod" — It is clear from this language that 
the apostle alludes to spiritual regeneration, and, 
perhaps, intended to express the thought that their 
connection with the Christian brotherhood was 



PURE LOVE. 59 

not prompted by any mercenary or other blamable 
considerations. The language intimates that they 
were not led into the Church by the mere power 
of some favorite preacher, nor for the mere purpose 
of wholesome association and moral culture, nor 
for any other conceivable reasons of a questionable 
character, but by the force of true spiritual life. 
Theirs was a true evangelical change of heart, and 
bore the fruits of that gracious state. 

They "purified their souls in obeying the truth." 
— The Greek word here rendered "souls" is 
often, in the New Testament, rendered "lives." 
It is so translated in all those passages in the Gos- 
pels which read, " He that loveth his life shall lose 
it," etc., and ought to be so rendered in this pas- 
sage. Souls, when used to signify men's spiritual 
natures, are not purified, strictly speaking, in obey- 
ing the truth, but by the Holy Spirit, through 
belief of the truth. Souls, however, used as 
expressive of the lives of the rational and animal 
man, are purified in obeying the truth through the 
Spirit. It is, therefore, highly probable that the 
apostle meant to say that they had brought the 
appetites, the senses, and the instincts of the ani- 
mal man ; the propensities, the affections, and the 
dispositions of the rational man; and, consequently, 
the whole outer life, into accord with the precepts 
of the gospel. 

This conformity of the life to the ethics of 
Christianity was produced " through the Spirit." — 



QO THE v " IV iMM 

ll w.i.: iimI Hip product <>| mnp puHuip, or <h <i 
plitlj , oi |0li '..nllol, Which WMiilJ iir.r; .inly I ,r 

confined <<> thi ei tei loi , but was I he spontaneous 
outgrowth oi "i iimn Ufa, There Is -i»» out u .mi 
life that looks v-v « - 1 1 to the eyes oi men, la oi great 

v.iliirui Hip < lump; :l ip and SOOia] I] >1 Ll I N I S, i a vriy 

MPPP • .11 \ III PMIIHIIPK ml <|||(| I »i i mim (in I. I, i i tO 

be commanded and nought Cos by all pereon i, audi 
Indeed, is « necessary |..ni <>i Christian conduct] 

but Oi il < H, Willi QO <h\liiP, jillpPiM.ilui.il pIpmipiiI, 

ii does not ranch thi lunar nal nip, and I s, Scrip 
ini.iii\ called, tv filthy raga in tha kingdom oi 
grace ,; "i tha obadianoa rafei red to by tha apoa 
tie waa oi ^ higher order, and waa not practiced 
Imi tha purpose oi getting and holding a repute 
tlon, nor oi gatting tha patronage and gain oi thia 
world, nor for the mere purpoae oi morality, com- 
mendable aa ll > ; i but for thaiake <>i character ^ n< I 
ita own Intrlnelo woiiii. ii. iprang from truly 
Derated lieai ts, i« n< I hence 

// /<■«/ (fl tl itnh i</nr,j /<>rr of iJir bl'Vthvetl" 

Tin.: (a Immeasurably above that affection which 
wnniinpv: p\pipi ,p towards their patrons, and 
thoae who sustain to them Importanl and profitable 
buaineaa relational 1 1 I s a love which fai surpa 
that which friends and kindred entertain for one 
anothei . pure and divine h s I his ls< tt la a pure, 
celestial passion and principle, planted »n the 
in ni «.i believers by tha spirit of God, and, like 
God, ii loves enemies, blesses them that curse It, 



<i,„ :: good to them that hate It) wid prays tor them 

that (l«::|»i!rliill\ n :.r ;iii<I | m-i :;ir 1 1 1 <• il . Il i ; nolli 
Mi" 1( . I h.lli I lir I loly Sj.ll It I lim.irll OOffiltlg llltO 

the heart through Faith In ( lhi 1*1 , Lmpai ting ( l)u Let's 
n;if inr, .Mid Leading I he ( Ihi Latian to aot out this 
divine nature oi lov€ In hii daily Life* 

These i.i, i iii ( "in latian ei pel Lenoe oonstll ate a 
sufficient i».i i i,. i ;i more advanced tvoi fa oi grace, 
and consequently the apostle urges the believeri 
addressed to seeli olean heaj ts, and the po ie ision 
of perfect Love In Its fervent toi "• n<>i Loe^ then, 

Till, I MIULTATION (ilVF.N. 

11 See that ye love one another fei vently« M The 
Literal rendei Lng I " ( >ut oi a clean heai t one 
anothei love Intensely/' [n this admonition, drawn 
from the fa< ti stated, and worded as It Is, a tew 
points claim the careful attention <>i the Christian 
student 

// urg$$ a gradoue et&te above and beyond the 
new birth % and one for which the new birth i$ a 
preparation^ or an antecedent work. Tin i . indl 
cated by the tenses used In the ( treei te I The 
,\ uf iim [zed Version Is at fault In rendei lng the 
i< n .( of one oi the participles oi this pas ags but 
iii.- Revised Version makes the proper ooi section, 
and greatly aids In getting the mind of the Spirit 
In this poj tion of the Wmd. The tJ ue reading Is, 
14 Having been I >* >> »> again, and having purified 
your souls/ 1 etc, i u § • ■ « is ting an already finished 



62 THE NEW NAME. 

work, and a preparation for something to follow in 
the process of salvation ; and hence the exhortation 
very naturally presses attention to a more advanced 
stage in this process. "See that ye love one an- 
other with a pure heart, fervently." 

A clean heart, then, is to be sought after regen- 
eration has taken place. — " Create in me a 
clean heart, O God ! " is, therefore, a suitable and 
divinely constructed prayer for all who have truly 
" passed from death unto life." If the critical 
reader insists that this is an assumption not author- 
ized by the text, he must concede what is practi- 
cally the same thing. He must concede that the 
emphasis of the passage falls upon the exhortation, 
and that the other statements prepare the way to 
press the matter of fervent love for one another out 
of clean hearts ; and he will notice that the Greek 
text, by the peculiar collocation of its words, puts 
the emphasis especially upon the words " a clean 
heart." The order is the order of thought, of feel- 
ing, and of nature, as in all ancient languages: 
" Out of a clean heart one another love fervently." 
Thus the first attention was directed to the clean 
heart; and, whether obtained at conversion or not, 
the first thing to be done is to see that' the heart is 
clean now, and next, that the pure love issuing 
from it be raised to a fervent degree. 

It will be noticed, also, that the exhortation is 
given in the use of an imperative aorist ; and as 
this love must not be a spasmodic, but a continu- 



PURE LOVE. 63 

ous exercise, the tense must be the inceptive aorist, 
which expresses the definite beginning of some- 
thing continuous. The continuity of this exercise 
would be properly expressed and urged by the 
imperitive present tense ; but the thought of a 
present, definite beginning must be provided for, 
and this required the inceptive aorist. Thus the 
Greek scholar finds an insuperable difficulty in 
identifying a clean heart with regeneration. He 
sees in these tenses a solemn admonition to truly 
regenerated persons to definitely commence and 
continue a phase and form of love not yet experi- 
enced, and requiring for its exercise a completely 
purified nature. 

The form of love urged was pure and fer- 
vent — They had already, as true Christians, ex- 
perienced and exercised towards the brethren a 
love free from all dissimulation, but not as free 
from adverse principles, and not as fervent, as the 
gospel requires and grace provides. It is a fact of 
experience and Scripture, teaching that love may 
be unfeigned, and yet be embarrassed in its exer- 
cise by feelings and dispositions which becloud its 
manifestations. Hence, some writers upon relig- 
ious experience and the phenomena of spiritual 
life, speak of love in the regenerated as in a mixed 
state, and in the entirely sanctified as free from all 
admixture. While this form of statement may be 
condemned as philosophically inaccurate, it never- 
theless expresses phases of experience through 



64 THE NEW NAME. 

which all have passed who have reached the higher 
results of the Christian faith. 

It is also a fact that love may be free in its exer- 
cise from all antagonizing principles, flowing from 
clean hearts, and yet lack in ardor and fervency. 
It is at this point where holy people, more, perhaps, 
than in anything else, detect and deplore their 
failures. They find nothing in their hearts con- 
trary to love, and it flows smoothly from purified 
natures ; but it often seems to them so destitute of 
warmth and vigor, and so sluggish in its move- 
ments, that it is scarcely a spontaneity to imitate 
the apostle and " very gladly spend and be spent " 
for others, or to imitate Jesus, and " die for the 
brethren." The love insisted upon in the text is 
not only to be unfeigned, but to flow from pure 
hearts, and to be raised to a degree called fervent: 
"very warm," "hot," "boiling." 

Such is the love which the atonement has pro- 
vided and the gospel requires of the writer and 
the reader ; and to neglect its pursuit is to grieve 
the Spirit and offend the Saviour. Let the reader, 
therefore, as this comes under his notice, cry from 
the center of his being, as the writer now con- 
ceives he does, " Oh for the incoming of the Holy 
Spirit in such power as to create and sustain 
and develop this holy passion and principle to the 
full extent of redemptive provisions ! Amen and 
amen." 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

THE KEW NAME: A HOLY PRIESTHOOD. 

THE inspired writers employ various methods and 
use a great variety of figures to present the rich 
grace offered to believers under the gospel dispen- 
sation. This grace is tendered for personal enjoy- 
ment and qualification for effective Christian work. 
Among the different methods of presenting the 
grace, not the least interesting and instructive 
is the symbol of the priesthood. 

The evangelical prophet, looking down through 
the ages, made this prediction to believers : " Ye 
shall be named the priests of the Lord." True to 
this prophecy, the apostle Peter said to believers 
of his day, official and non-official, " Ye also, as 
lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy 
priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, accept- 
able to God by Jesus Christ." Again he said, 
" Ye are a chosen generation ; a royal priesthood ; 
a holy nation ; a peculiar people." In addressing 
the seven churches of Asia, John wrote, "Unto 
him that loved us and washed us from our sins in 
his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests 
unto God and his father." These passages point 



66 THE NEW NAME. 

out an experience to be enjoyed in this life, and a 
grace to be exercised in religious work among 
perishing men, and not something belonging to the 
life to come. 

To see the full force of the symbol, it would 
be necessary to studj T the Levitical priesthood in 
detail ; but for a good, practical view of the subject, 
it will only be necessary to state a few of the prin- 
cipal facts that constituted the priesthood under 
the Jewish ceremonial. 

Priests were chosen from the family of Aaron. — 
None were ever taken from the family of Joseph, 
or the family of Benjamin, nor from the tribe of 
Judah, until Christ was chosen from it to be a 
priest forever, after the order of Melchisedec, and 
not after the Aaronic order. Moreover, every son 
born to Aaron was born a priest. This was his 
birthright. So, under the gospel, God selects His 
priests or religious workers from the household of 
faith, and from none others. He selects none from 
the uncultured and poor because they are such, 
nor from the cultured and rich because they are 
such ; but selects persons because they belong to 
the divine family by a new, celestial birth. It is 
a fearful impertinence for men and women who 
have never been born into the divine family, and 
who are not earnestly seeking the grace, to attempt 
the work of the pulpit or pew, whatever may be 
their natural qualifications. God makes no such 
selections. " Without me ye can do nothing." 



A HOLY PRIESTHOOD. 67 

But it is the birthright of every regenerated 
person to claim the " roj^al priesthood " of the 
New Testament dispensation, and, upon meeting 
the appointed conditions, to exercise its functions 
whenever and wherever God may appoint. 

Another fact of great significance in the consti- 
tution of the Levitical priesthood, was, — 

An acting priest had to be free from all physi- 
cal blemishes. — The sons who were unfortunately 
born with bodily defects, or had been in any way 
crippled or diseased in childhood or youth, dared 
not "go unto the veil, nor come nigh unto the 
altar." They were, however, supported upon the 
revenues arising from the temple service. They 
were permitted to " eat the bread of their God, 
both of the most holy and of the holy," and enjoy 
all the acting priests enjoyed, but were forbidden 
" to come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord 
made by fire." (See Lev. 21 : 21-23.) So, in the 
dispensation of the Holy Ghost, all who would 
be scripturally installed priests, and exercise the 
functions of the priesthood, must get clear of 
spiritual blemishes and be made spiritually whole. 
The divine command is, " Let patience have her 
perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, 
wanting nothing; " and the Christian who does not 
obey cannot expect to have priestly access to God 
and priestly power with men. 

To escape the obligation of seeking entire sancti- 
fication and a special divine enduement for work, 



68 THE NEW NAME. 

many plead that they were " powerfully con- 
verted — converted through and through — were 
made inexpressibly happy, and often since have been 
as happy as it is possible to be and live," and 
think it strange that they should be urged to seek 
something more. They have not yet learned that 
truly converted persons may "eat the bread of 
their God, both the most holy and the holy/' or be 
as happy as their divinely anointed brethren ; and 
yet, because of spiritual defection, they cannot 
approach God and move men like those who have 
been made " perfect and entire, wanting nothing. ,, 
They are comparatively powerless. They cannot 
t* come nigh to offer the offerings of the Lord made 
by fire." 

Another matter of deep meaning was, that 
though born in the Aaronic family, and free from 
all physical defects, — 

An acting priest had to submit to an installa- 
tion ceremony. — This ceremony of ordination was a 
lengthy and tedious exercise of seven days' contin- 
uance. The candidates for the office were brought 
before the tabernacle and the temple, and there 
their bodies were washed and dressed in the holy 
garments, which were made of pure flaxen fabrics, 
according to a divinely given pattern. Next, the 
holy oil was poured upon the heads which were 
previously mitred ; the sin offering was then slain, 
and the blood sprinkled " round about the altar." 
Then the ram of consecration was slain, and the 



A HOLY PRIESTHOOD. 69 

priest took of the blood and touched the right ear, 
the right hand, and the right foot of the candidates. 
He next sprinkled the holy oil, with the blood, upon 
their garments, and after seven days of this exer- 
cise they were ready to appear before the Lord in 
the execution of priestly functions. 

It will be seen, therefore, from this symbol, that 
a birth into the family of God is not a complete 
equipment for religious work. There must take* 
place besides this an inward purification, which, 
more than the highest type of the best morals, 
cleanses the outward life and habits, and moulds 
them according to the purity of the gospel. * Be- 
lievers who would reach the maximum of their 
power in Christian labor, must receive that special 
anointing by the Holy Ghost which was indicated 
by pouring the holy oil upon the mitred heads, and 
touching the blood to the right ear, the right hand, 
and the right foot. The best faculties of the brain, 
the best skill in the mechanical trades, the greatest 
dexterity in the fine arts, and the passion and 
ability to travel abroad, must all be touched by 
the blood of consecration and purification, and laid 
under contribution to the glory of God in the sal- 
vation of the perishing. 

Moreover, the symbol points out the distinction 
between a blemished son of the Aaronic family, and 
one who administers at the altar. They both alike 
apprehend the sprinkled blood for their pardon, 
and both are alike happy; but both have not alike 



70 THE NEW NAME. 

a personal contact with the blood. This also indi- 
cates the difference between the truly regenerated 
and the entirely sanctified believer under the 
gospel. They both apprehend Christ as their per- 
sonal Saviour, and they are both alike happy ; but 
the entirely sanctified has a personal contact with 
the blood of cleansing which the other has not ex- 
perienced, and cannot, therefore, "come nigh to 
•offer the offerings of the Lord made by fire." 

Another suggestive part of the Levitical priest- 
hood was, — 

Every necessary precaution was taken for the 
continued maintenance of this priestly sanctity. — 
The entire garb of the priest was purely flaxen, 
without any thread of woolen. Wool grows on 
flesh, and flesh is the divinely chosen type of the 
carnal principle, and was not, therefore, suitable 
material to enter into the holy garments. The 
priests were forbidden to marry outside of their 
own tribe, and their wives were selected from 
chaste virgins or widows of deceased priests. They 
were allowed no inheritance among their brethren, 
but were compelled to trust God in a special sense 
for their support. "The Lord God of Israel was 
their inheritance." 

The suggestion is, that purified believers under 
the gospel may not carry over into the sanctified 
state any practice formed under the dominance of 
the carnal principle. There must not be a thread 
of woolen in any part of their dress, or sinful 



A HOLY PRIESTHOOD. 71 

habit in their lives. They must pay special atten- 
tion to their intermarriages, being "not unequally 
yoked with unbelievers ; " they must look closely 
to marital and family purity; they must possess 
their homes and lands as not possessing; they 
must make everything subsidiary to the great 
matter of saving themselves and others; and they 
must calculate and make every necessary provision 
to preserve this sanctity through probationary life. 

Another interesting matter to be named before 
closing is, — 

The peculiar duties of the priests. — Primary 
among these was keeping the fire burning continu- 
ally upon the great altar, and feeding the lamps 
with pure olive oil, keeping them burning both 
day and night. Numerous other duties of a sacred 
kind were assigned them, removing the office 
very far from a sinecure. They may all be sum- 
marized in this : that they were to live with God, 
know His will, and bless the people for Him ; they 
were to live with the people, learn their wants and 
make them known to God, and secure His bene- 
diction for them. 

So under the gospel dispensation the Lord pro- 
poses to so sanctify and anoint His chosen workers, 
ministerial and lay, that they will keep the holy 
fire burning constantly upon the altars of His 
Church ; that they will, by prayer and supplication, 
call down the Holy Spirit to illuminate and save 
the people; that they will act as middlemen 



72 THE NEW NAME. 

between Him and the perishing, representing 
Him to them by their spirit and life, and carrying 
their wants to Him by prayer and faith ; and, in 
short, that they all be divinely endowed and made 
supremely efficient in saving lost men. 

Reader, have you been born into the divine 
family ? Have you been cleansed from all inward 
defilement ? Have you put on the holy garments ? 
Have you been anointed with the Holy Spirit? 
Have you had a personal contact with the blood ? 
Do you live wholly to God, and are you successful 
in your Christian work ? If not, awake ! Fly to 
the blood that cleanses, and to the Spirit that em- 
powers, and claim the prerogatives and exercise 
the functions of a New Testament priest. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE NEW NAME: WHITER THAN SNOW. 

IN the Lamentations of Jeremiah (4 : 7) the 
Nazarites of Israel in their purest times are said 
to have been " purer than snow " and " whiter than 
milk." There is but one more connection in all 
the Sacred Books where a purified state of the 
human heart is represented by this figure, and there 
it is " whiter than snow" instead of "purer than 
snow;" but the meaning is the same. According 
to the title given to the fifty-first Psalm, in which we 
find the expression "whiter than snow," it records 
a prayer of David when in his backslidden condi- 
tion, but in the act of recovering from it. It will 
be noticed, in reading this prayer, that he alternately 
prays for pardon and purity; and this, being an 
inspired prayer, settles the question whether one 
backslidden from holiness of heart must first 
recover a state of pardon and then the state of 
purity. The clear inference is, that such a person 
may, and ought to, pray for, and recover at once, all 
and more than he lost. 

The careful reader will notice that when David 
prays for pardon he uses the plural form of nouns 
expressive of sinful acts, and when he prays for 



74 THE NEW NAME. 

purity he uses the singular form of words denoting 
depravity. Hence the expressions, " Blot out my 
transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from mine 
iniquity and cleanse me from my sin." Transgres- 
sion is used in the plural, and means more than one 
act of sinning ; and they must be pardoned, can- 
celled, or blotted from the book of remembrance. 
But iniquity and sin are used in the singular, and 
indicate one indivisible unit principle of evil in 
the nature; and this is not to be pardoned or 
blotted out like actual sin, but to be washed away, 
cleansed from the heart. 

While David was praying after this manner, 
God led him to a full discovery of his sinfulness 
on the one hand, and to a discovery of the exceed- 
ing breadth of the law on the other hand, and he 
cried out in the language of surprise and wonder, 
" Behold, I was shapen in iniquity ; and in sin did 
my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desirest 
truth in the inward parts : and in the hidden part 
thou shalt make me to know wisdom." David 
does not here speak of any sinful act connected 
with his conception, but a sinful principle which 
so infected the nature of his parents that it 
was transmitted to the offspring, and permeated 
his whole being. It entered into the warp and 
woof of his nature, and was a part of himself. On 
the other hand, he saw that the divine law required 
a purity as deep and radical as the depravity : 
" Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts." 



WHITER THAN SNOW. 75 

It is not enough that I always speak the truth and 
act truthfully among my fellows, but I must be 
true ; truthful in my inner being. " In the 
hidden parts," in the core and center of my being, 
" thou shalt make me to know wisdom." I shall 
experience that wisdom which is from above, 
which " is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and 
easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, 
without partiality, and without hypocrisy." 

With this deeper insight into his depravity, and 
into the riches of redemptive provisions, David's 
prayer becomes correspondingly significant and 
comprehensive. Hence the unusually strange 
and expressive language of his next petition, 
" Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean : wash 
me, and I shall be whiter than snow." In using 
the word " hyssop " it is evident that David's mind 
at the time was on a very familiar and well known 
rite of purification under the Levitical ceremo- 
nial. When a person died in a tent, that tent, 
with all that was in it, was rendered unclean for 
seven days ; and if a person touched a dead body, 
or a bone of a dead body, or a grave, he was 
rendered unclean for the same length of time. To 
restore these persons and tent furniture to their 
former purity, a clean person had to dip a hyssop 
branch into the "water of separation," which was 
a strong alkali from the ashes of the " red heifer " 
and " cedar wood " which was burned with her, 
and sprinkle the unclean persons and things ; and 



76 THE NEW NAME. 

after three days repeat this, and so on the seventh 
day, when all became ceremonially clean on the 
evening of that day. 

David's painful recollection of his connection 
with the death of Uriah made him think of the 
hyssop cleansing, and made him feel his great need 
of legal purification, that he might stand uncon- 
demned before the law. Hence he prays for this 
ceremonial purification, and dares to ask God to 
become the officiating priest, that the exercise may 
be more than a mere ceremony, — a real absolution 
from all guilt and condemnation. But not only so, 
he ventures to ask God to do the washing which 
completed the ceremonial cleansing, that he might 
be made really and truly whiter than snow. 

Commentators and Biblical expositors generally 
in the past have viewed this expression of David, 
and the saying of Jeremiah, " purer than snow," 
as poetic expressions meaning a good degree of 
purity, but not to be interpreted with philological 
exactness. Modern science, however, aided by a 
deep experience in divine tilings, has discovered 
these expressions to be statements made with phil- 
osophical accuracy of a phase of religious experi- 
ence which has been enjoyed by few or more of the 
saints in all ages of the Church. 

Now, the purest snow that falls, far away from 
the city and all human habitations, contains impur- 
ities. In its descent through the atmosphere, 
which seems to be impregnated with the dirt of 



WHITER THAN SNOW. 77 

the earth, the fuzz from the leaves and bodies of 
vegetable growths and other loose and volatile 
substances, it gathers these impurities ; and when 
placed in a retort, and distilled, will leave sedi- 
ments behind. If, then, this distilled water were 
refrozen, and the snow-flakes reproduced from it, the 
flakes thus formed would be "purer " or " whiter 
than snow; " that is, they would be "purer" and 
"whiter" than the natural snow. 

Human beings come into this world like the snow- 
flakes, with an impurity in them. Hence the lan- 
guage noticed a few moments ago : " Behold, I was 
shapen in iniquity ; and in sin did my mother con- 
ceive me." What the native snow needs to make 
it absolutely pure and white is the removal of the 
impurities which it gathers in its descent through 
the atmosphere. What an infant needs to prepare 
it for an absolutely holy heaven is not pardon, 
nor regeneration, nor adoption ; for it is already a 
member of the divine family : " For of such is the 
kingdom of heaven ; " but what it needs is the 
removal of native impurity, and this takes place 
by virtue of the atonement in the case of every 
infant dying in infancy. This is also what takes 
place at the death of every justified believer, 
whether old or young in years, who has walked 
abreast of his light, but who did not, for some 
cause, experience deliverance from the carnal mind 
till the last hour. 

The native impurity, or bias to evil, leads the 



78 



THE NEW NAME. 



child away from God as soon as it reaches the 
years of accountability ; it loses its innocence, con- 
tracts guilt and condemnation, and becomes dead 
in trespasses and in sins. Thus there is created a 
necessity for repentance, faith, regeneration, adop- 
tion, and restoration to the divine favor, which has 
been lost by actual transgression. This condition 
of the sinner is fitly represented by the snow which 
has been shovelled from the sidewalks into the 
streets, and been trodden over by man and beast 
until its whiteness has nearly disappeared. If 
now this filthy, befouled snow could be separated 
from the impurities of the street, and be placed 
back upon the sidewalks with the whiteness and 
purity which it had in the morning, before travel 
commenced, it would fairly indicate what true 
regeneration and the washing of regeneration does 
for the repentant sinner. It removes all guilt and 
condemnation; it takes away all unnatural and 
sinful appetites which were formed under the 
dominion of the carnal man; it eliminates and 
removes all contracted depravity, and places the 
happy believer back in the moral relations and con- 
ditions of infancy ; and he now needs nothing to 
complete his salvation and fit him for a place 
among the saints in light, except what an infant 
itself needs. 

We have just seen what the natural snow needs 
to make it absolutely pure and white, and what an 
infant needs to fit it for an absolutely holy heaven ; 



WHITER THAN SNOW. 79 

viz., the removal of native impurities, of the inborn 
bias to wrong doing, of the old Adamic taint of 
depravity; in short, inward holiness is its need. 
And this is the need of, and what must be done for, 
every Christian who has not experienced this great 
inward change which gives him the new name, 
the nature of God. 

The royal penitent next feels that he must have 
some relief from the fearful anguish and distress 
of mind which he was suffering on account of 
God's just displeasure at his sins. When he got 
a view of the enormity of his adulterous and mur- 
derous conduct, there came upon him such a sense 
of guilt and shame, as produced a complete pros- 
tration of mind and body. He felt as though the 
bony system of his body were crushed, and that 
the mind could no longer endure God's eyes upon 
these sins. Hence he cries out, in the bitterness of 
his soul, "Make me to hear joy and gladness; that 
the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 
Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine 
iniquities." Oh, give me some relief from this 
awful suffering, by healing these broken bones, 
and turning thine eyes away from my shameful 
misdoings ! I can bear this bitter cup no longer ! 
" Have mercy upon me, O God ! " 

With this interluded cry for some abatement of his 
unbearable, but justly deserved, misery, David 
continues his plea for inward holiness. " Create 
in me a clean heart, O God ; and renew a right 



80 THE NEW NAME. 

spirit within me." He had just prayed, " Purge 
me with hyssop, and I shall be clean ; wash me, 
and I shall be whiter than snow;" but now he 
wants more than perfect cleanness and whiteness. 
To this negative element of entire sanctification, he 
now wants added something more positive — a 
something which he calls a clean heart — created in 
him. The word rendered " create " is the strongest 
in the Hebrew language to express original crea- 
tion, or the formation of something out of nothing. 
Hence it was not the old heart repaired or recon- 
structed, or any other improvement of the old 
nature, that David sought, but a new creation. 

More than this, David desired some special pro- 
vision for retaining the coveted grace after he 
might receive it. Hence the prayer, "Renew a 
right spirit within me," rendered in the margin a 
" constant spirit." He had tried the strength of his 
own resolutions and the force of his former reli- 
gious habits, and they had signally failed him ; and 
now he feels the need of a spirit divinely freed 
from all fickleness and vacillation, and prays 
accordingly. He feels that, unless he be as super- 
naturally rooted and grounded in the grace which 
he is seeking, as it must be supernaturally commu- 
nicated to him, he cannot retain it. He has lost 
confidence in everything on the line of salvation 
except Almightiness, and to that he makes his 
appeals for all needed good. Just here believers 
are failing daily ; they depend too much upon 



WHITER THAN SNOW. 81 

their own strength, and practically overlook the 
inspired statement, " The Lord is thy keeper ; the 
Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand." 

There was another favor, in addition to all he 
had asked, which David felt he must have, or ever 
remain a weakling and fail in accomplishing what 
he knew was possible for him to do for his King. 
He therefore prayed, " Restore unto me the joy 
of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free 
spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways ; 
and sinners shall be converted unto thee." To 
utter this petition must have cost David a severer 
struggle than any other petition of this remarkable 
prayer. It is an acknowledgment that he once 
had this joy, and that he lost it by shameful sins — 
sins low enough for the most degraded sinner of 
the kingdom. Yet this petition had to be made, or 
never recover fully from the awful apostasy. Had 
it been for mere personal happiness that he desired 
the joy, he never could have asked for its restora- 
tion; but being a necessary element of spiritual 
power, he must have it, and therefore must ask 
for it. 

In the possession and exhibition of this restored 
joy, David asked God to uphold him by giving to 
him a "free spirit," which means, in the original, a 
" noble, princely spirit." He did not wish this joy 
to be a light, chaffy, tittering thing, unbecoming 
any worshipper ; but he desired it to be dignified, 
elevated, and becoming a prince, the ruler of a 



82 THE NEW NAME. 

great people. With his sins blotted out, the heart 
washed from all iniquity, the inner being made 
whiter than snow, the newly created heart pulsating 
through his moral nature, his demeanor supported 
by a generous and princely spirit, his countenance 
lightened, and his movements quickened by the joy 
of the Lord, David could safely promise to teach 
transgressors the way of God, and lead sinners to 
repentance. 

We have in this prayer, besides many other 
valuable lessons, a most, beautiful and expressive 
summary of all the elements of true spiritual life 
and qualifications for religious work, and every 
reader can see what he must be and do to reach 
the maximum of happiness and success in religious 
effort. May the present reader study this subject 
until he becomes enamored with the theme, and 
makes all these things his own personal experi- 
ence! 



CHAPTER X. 

THE NEW NAME AN UNCTION. 

IN his general epistle (2 : 20), John said to those 
who had obtained the new name, " Ye have 
an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all 
things." Divine enlightenment, therefore, and 
every other good thing comprehended in "an 
unction from the Holy One," belongs to the new 
name. Let us study its source, nature, and neces- 
sity, from this passage. 

Holy One is one of the many adorable titles of 
our Lord Jesus Christ — David said (Ps. 16: 10), 
" Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell ; neither 
wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption ;" 
and in his Pentecostal speech, Peter predicates 
these words of the Messiah. In a speech made 
shortly after this, upon Solomon's Porch, explain- 
ing the miracle performed upon the congenital 
cripple, Peter uses the same title to designate 
the Crucified One. "Ye denied the Holy One 
and the Just, and desired a murderer to be 
granted unto you ; and killed the Prince of life, 
whom God hath raised from the dead." So, 
also, "Holy One" in the text, means Christ and 



84 THE NEW NAME. 

teaches that the anointing of the Spirit comes 
from Him. But the Saviour taught His disciples 
to ask the Father for this gift : " If ye then, being 
evil, know how to give good gifts unto your 
children, how much more shall your heavenly 
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." 
The anointing, therefore, comes from the Father 
through the Son ; and this fact must not be over- 
looked by any who would receive the gift of 
the Holy Ghost. It is important to mark the 
words, u When the Comforter is come, whom I will 
send unto you from the Father," "I will pray the 
Father, and he shall give you another Comforter." 
Note : " I will send," " I will pray ; " but, " from the 
Father," "he shall give." 

The unction, or anointing oil, is here used 
for the anointing itself, and signifies the HolySpirit 
in His enlightening, purifying, and empowering 
offices. — This word "unction" and its derivatives, 
used in the New Testament, borrow their meaning 
and force from the ancient Levitical ordinance of 
pouring holy oil upon kings and priests at their 
induction into office. The ceremony was intended 
to indicate that these officials received from above 
such divine light, wisdom, and other aid as might 
be necessary to execute properly the functions of 
their respective offices. For this reason this ancient 
rite is the divinely chosen symbol of the gift of 
the Holy Ghost, or of that grace which believers 
receive when they are enlightened, purified, and 



AN UNCTION. 85 

empowered for successful Christian work, or have 
received the new name. 

A reference to the old ordinance will disclose 
some very important facts connected with this 
anointing, which all believers ought prayerfully to 
study. It was a capital offence to put the holy oil 
upon a stranger, or one not belonging to the Abra- 
hamic family. It was punishable by excision from 
God's people to imitate, or make an oil "like it, 
after the composition of it." And to pour it upon 
"man's flesh" was punishable in the same way. 
These laws governing the use of the holy oil teach 
us that the anointing of the Spirit can be received 
by none unless they first belong to the household 
of faith, or we must know the Holy Spirit in His 
regenerating and adopting offices before we can 
receive Him in the higher offices of purifying and 
empowering. They teach us that it is a fearful 
thing to substitute moral excellencies, gentleness, 
suavity of manners, and other products of culture 
and self-control, which are of great value in their 
proper sphere, for the graces of the Spirit; and 
that it is an awful mistake to substitute, as many 
are doing, the zeal and enthusiasm which mere 
oratory may originate, for the energy which the 
Holy Ghost inspires. Surely such duplicity dis- 
members from the spiritual Israel. 

These laws show also that it is lost time — nay, 
it is time devoted to trifling with self and insulting 
God — to seek the anointing while the heart is 



86 THE NEW NAME. 

unwilling to part with all self-seeking, all ambitious 
schemes, and everything else which carnality, 
symbolized in these laws by " man's flesh," would 
hold and embrace. To ask for the anointing with- 
out renouncing everything displeasing to God is to 
ask Him to compromise w^ith evil, and to come into 
complicity with our depraved wishes. The unction 
cannot be applied until the carnal principle is 
crucified, eliminated, and the new name obtained. 

This anointing is here represented as a scource 
of knowledge. — Hence the apostle says to those 
who had it, " Ye know all things." This Scrip- 
ture has been perverted occasionally by weak 
believers, to their great injury, by supposing that, 
since they have received the gift of the Holy 
Ghost, they no longer need the instructions of the 
pulpit. They have supposed that the statement 
in the text, and in verse 27, " Ye need not that 
any man teach you; but the same anointing 
teacheth you of all things/' justifies the rejection 
of all human helps for information on divine sub- 
jects. This text ought, therefore, like all others 
capable of serious misconstruction, to be examined 
in its connection and in the light of other Scrip- 
tures bearing upon the same subject, " comparing 
spiritual things with spiritual/' 

Looking, then, at the connection of the text, it 
will be noticed that the apostle says, in verse 
26, " These things have I written unto you 
concerning them that seduce you." This, with 



AN UNCTION. 87 

the well-known fact that the whole letter is 
intended to denounce the antinomian error or 
gnosticism of the times, makes it clear that the 
apostle is guarding the brethren to whom he 
wrote against false teachers, and meant to say 
in the text and verse 27, that they knew all 
that was necessary to preserve them from the 
snares of the anti-christs around them, and that 
they needed no such men as these seducers to teach 
them. What they needed was to abide in the 
truths already learned ; and hence he says (verse 
24), "If that which ye have heard from the begin- 
ning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in 
the Son, and in the Father." Again, the panta of 
the Greek text is either in the accusative, singular, 
masculine, and may be rendered, " Ye know every 
person ; " or it is in the accusative, plural, neuter, 
and may be rendered, u Ye know all things.' , If 
the first rendering be adopted, the apostle is made 
to say to his brethren, " Ye know every one of 
these false teachers ; ye know they went out from 
us (verse 18) because they were not of us ; they 
never received the anointing, and ye know they 
are unworthy of your confidence." If the second 
rendering be accepted, he is made to say, " Ye 
know all truth necessary to your present salvation 
and safety ; only abide in these truths, and ; let no 
man deceive you.' " 

When the text is compared with other Scriptures 
bearing upon the same subject, it is clear the 



88 THE NEW NAME. 

apostle had no thought of teaching that the anoint- 
ing of the Spirit would supersede any other 
divinely appointed channel of spiritual information. 
In the letter to the Hebrews, the Spirit's command 
to believers is, " Obey them that have the rule 
over you; " or, as rendered in the margin, " Obey 
them that guide you." This assumes the need of 
instruction from church officials, and orders atten- 
tion to it. In his letter to the Thessalonians, the 
most spiritual church of apostolic times, Paul 
ordered them to " despise not prophesyings ; " that 
is, the instruction of others, whether ministers or 
laymen, " speaking unto men to edification, exhor- 
tation, and comfort." These, and other inspired 
counsels, clearly show that no Christian, however 
advanced in experience and divine knowledge, can, 
with safety, neglect the Bible, the pulpit, or any 
of the appointed means of divine knowledge. Let 
none, therefore, wrest this text, or any of kindred 
import, by refusing human helps in their efforts to 
know more of God. 

It would seem from the text, especially when 
taken in connection with the general character of the 
epistle, that the anointing of the Holy Spirit was a 
very common experience in the early Church. — John 
addresses the brethren with the assumption that 
they all had this experience, that they all knew 
the truths which this grace imparted, and urges 
them not to seek the unction, but hold and 
preserve the purity and power already enjoyed. 



AN UNCTION. 89 

The records made in the Acts of the Apostles in- 
dicate the same prevalency of this grace in the 
apostolic Church. It is stated that, upon the dis- 
persion of the Pentecostal Church, Philip went 
down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ 
unto the citizens, who joyfully received the Word ; 
and when the news reached the apostles at Jerusa- 
lem, they sent Peter and John to look after this 
revival work, and they prayed for the young 
converts until they received the holy anointing. 
And when Paul met young converts at Ephesus, 
he inquired concerning their experience in this 
grace; and, finding them destitute, he laid his 
hands upon them, and they received the Holy 
Ghost. 

This is still the Divine order. God would have 
all young converts and all believers destitute of 
this grace to seek at once the fulness of the bless- 
ing of the gospel. He would have every one who 
is freely justified, to be as freely sanctified ; every 
one enjoying pardon, to enjoy purity ; every one 
delivered from guilt, to seek at once deliverance 
from depravity ; every one out of Egypt, to enter 
immediately into Canaan ; every one born into the 
Divine family, to be speedily anointed king and 
priest in that family ; and every one betrothed to 
Jesus by the grace of regeneration, to hastily con- 
summate the marriage by the grace of entire 
sanctification. Such is God's order. 



CHAPTER XL 

THE NEW NAME REFRESHED. 

TEACHERS of holiness differ somewhat in their 
views concerning the frequency with which be- 
lievers may receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost. 
Some contend that there is but one such baptism, 
and that if its recipient remain faithful he will 
never need another, though he will need occasional 
refreshings. Others contend that these refresh- 
ings are nothing more nor less than effusions of the 
Spirit, just such as were received at first when 
they were pronounced the baptisms of the Holy 
Ghost. 

There is a record in the Acts of the Apostles, 
which seems to justify the latter view. After the 
disciples had received the Pentecostal grace and 
entered upon their work, Peter and John healed 
a congenital cripple, were arrested, and taken be- 
fore the temple authorities ; and though they did 
not seem to be the least intimidated, yet, when they 
went to their own company and made their report, 
all joined in prayer for greater boldness and more 
marvellous displays of divine power ; and it is re- 
corded, " When they had prayed, the place was 
shaken where they were assembled together ; and 



THE NEW NAME REFRESHED. 91 

they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they 
spake the word of God with boldness." Now what- 
ever happened to them on the day of Pentecost was 
repeated at this time and place, for the identical 
words are used to express what they received 
on each occasion: "And they were all filled with 
the Holy Ghost." The effect of the first effusion, 
or baptism, is given in these words : " They began 
to speak with other tongues ; " the effect of the 
second effusion was substantially the same : " They 
spake the word of God with boldness." 

It is clear, therefore, that whether these were 
both baptisms or not, or whether the first was the 
baptism of the Holy Ghost, and the other a refresh- 
ing effusion of the Spirit, they qualified their sub- 
jects for the work in hand. On the Pentecost, they 
needed the gift of tongues, and whatever else that 
involved ; on the other occasion, their need was 
boldness to declare the truth, and these wants 
were fully met by these respective effusions of the 
Spirit. Hence, whatever terms we may use to ex- 
press these visits of the Spirit, they imparted sub- 
stantially the same grace ; and it is worthy of a 
place in memory that the inspired narratives desig- 
nated these visits and operations of the Spirit by 
the same phraseology, " And they were all filled 
with the Holy Ghost." 

But whatever may be the theory held on this 
subject, and the terms of designation used by 
deeply experienced Christians, all feel the need of 



92 THE NEW NAME. 

these gracious visits and effusions of the Spirit to 
maintain satisfactory religious experiences, and to 
preserve the maximum of usefulness in the Church. 
In his advanced years, though he had been filled 
with the Spirit ever since Ananias had laid his 
hands upon him, that he might receive his sight 
and be filled with the Holy Ghost, Paul urged 
the churches to pray for him that he might be 
" refreshed, 5 ' and receive such new manifestations 
of God as occasions- might require. A striking 
and highly instructive instance of this occurs in 
his letter to the Romans (15 : 29-32), where he 
makes this remarkable statement : " I am sure that, 
when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness 
of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. Now I 
beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's 
sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive 
together with me in your prayers to God for me ; 
that I may come unto you with joy by the will 
of God, and may with you be refreshed. , ' These 
words contain some great practical truths which 
ought not to be carelessly passed over by any Chris- 
tian, and are so pertinent to the theme in hand that 
some of them will now be named. 

The most spiritually minded need refreshings. — 
If Paul, at that period of his life in which he 
wrote the letter to the Romans, needed refresh- 
ings, and needed them so much as to justify him 
in urging a great church to " strive together in 
prayers " for this end, surely all other Christians, 



THE NEW NAME REFRESHED. 93 

however advanced in spirituality, need the same. 
Believers may be filled with the Spirit, as a settled 
religious state or habit of the soul, and yet need 
these gracious refreshings more or less frequently, 
and some more frequently than others. This is 
according to the analogy of nature, and is as 
rational as it is scriptural. Persons free from 
physical disease of every kind, and filled with 
natural vigor, nevertheless must frequently take 
suitable nourishment. Two and three times every 
day healthy persons must supply the waste of their 
vital forces by food, or they become exhausted and 
unable for service. The soundness and health of 
the laborer are indicated by the readiness and 
avidity with which he receives his regular meals. 
Should he be indifferent about them, and especially 
should he loathe them, he is unfit for work, and 
needs medical attention. 

So believers may be spiritually healthy and filled 
with spiritual vigor, and yet need these spiritual 
refreshings; and their religious soundness will be 
indicated by the keenness of their appetite for soul 
nourishment. But should Christians be indifferent 
about spiritual food, and especially should they 
feel a sense of qualmishness at an invitation to 
come to the altar of prayer, or at doing anything 
proper to be done to receive soul food or spiritual 
strengthening, they should be alarmed at their con- 
dition. They need special and prompt attention 
before spiritual life shall become entirely extinct. 



94 THE NEW NAME. 

Soul sickness has set in, and unless the gracious 
remedies be speedily taken, will end in certain 
death. What a spectacle of sick and dying and 
dead people the Church of to-flay presents to -the 
Eye that can take it all in ! 

A sense of spiritual need is no evidence of 
spiritual poverty. — Had Paul's craving for refresh- 
ings been to hi in evidence of leanness, he could not 
have said, " I am sure that, when I come unto 
you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of 
the gospel." This language is a declaration that 
he then had this blessing of fulness, and, what is 
very much more than a declaration of present pos- 
session, he declares that he was sure he would con- 
tinue to have it in the future when he should visit 
Rome ; yet with all that, he would then need a joint 
refreshing with his brethren of that church. 

In his entreaty to these brethren, the apostle as- 
sumes that they would need the same refreshing, 
and inferentially tells them this; yet he did not 
reflect in the least upon their religious state, nor 
had he any idea that they would receive his state- 
ment as any reflection upon their spiritual condi- 
tion then, or when he should visit them. Nor 
should it be taken as an insult by the members of 
any church when the pastor invites them to some 
exercise for the purpose of stirring up their gifts 
and graces. Many look upon such invitations as 
expressions of doubt in their piety, and assumptions 
of lukewarmness, backslidings, and spiritual dead- 



THE NEW NAME REFRESHED. 95 

ness. But such requests of the pastor rather 
assume the religious wholeness of the member- 
ship, and their wish for quickening because of 
existing spiritual life and relishes. 

To kindly invite a neighbor to sit down at our 
table and take a meal with us, is the very opposite 
of assuming that he is sick and has no relish for 
food ; it is assuming that he is well and in good 
condition, and may need the nourishment kindly 
offered. So to invite to an altar of prayer assumes 
nothing that should offend believers, but, on the 
contrary, assumes what ought to please and stimu- 
late them to promptly accept the invitation. Our 
apostle, in another connection, declares this exercise 
of some way presenting ourselves to God as a 
"reasonable service," something in harmony with 
the nature of things, and with the religious tastes 
and affinities of true believers. 

Striving together in prayer is the condition of 
obtaining these refreshings. — Apathetic and formal 
prayers will avail nothing. The apostle urges 
the brethren to "strive " in prayer ; and not only 
so, but "strive together" in prayer, so that by 
their most earnest and unified intercessions they 
might reach the maximum of their power in prayer, 
and secure the needed affusions of the Spirit both 
upon him and them, "that I may with you be 
refreshed." Though closet devotion is essential to 
true Christian life, and though special blessings 
are promised to the private worshipper, the full 



96 THE NEW NAME. 

reward is made " openly." Hence great stress is 
placed upon open and public worship. There is 
a very positive command to " neglect not the 
assembling of yourselves together as the manner 
of some is," but to imitate the one hundred and 
twenty, and, like them, collect together, " all with 
one accord in one place." When, however, no 
such public opportunities for Christian help are 
available, the believer's own earnest, striving 
prayers will secure the needed visit from the 
Holy Spirit. 

But if these opportunities for the help of praying 
brethren are available, and the believer carelessly 
neglects them, no amount of closet prayer will 
secure the refreshings. Paul's private prayers pre- 
vailed with God, yet he would not risk his refresh- 
ings and other personal blessings to his own prayers, 
but frequently entreats the churches to "strive 
together with him in prayers to God for him." It 
was not, therefore, merely ceremonial, or saying 
prayers, that he wanted, but real, heart-felt, earnest, 
fervent praying in the Holy Ghost that he sought; 
prayers that would move the Divine Being to 
grant what was asked, provided His infinite wisdom 
saw it best to make the grant. 

The most advanced spiritual life may receive 
new revelations and new raptures. — It is a great 
mistake to suppose that in advanced religious 
life there are no new and fresh experiences to be 
sought and enjoyed ; yet thousands in middle life 



THE NEW NAME REFRESHED. 97 

and in advanced years, both in the pulpit and in 
the pew, show an outer life fixed in religious habits, 
but the inner moral state cold and fossilized, 
without any freshness and heavenly sweetness. 
They seem to suppose that raptures and ecstasies 
belong to early Christian experience, and that none 
but new converts may expect such realizations, 
while they may expect nothing but a dead level 
experience, without any sudden uplifts or new 
raptures. 

Paul had many marked epochs in his religion 
after he received the fulness of the Holy Ghost, 
and that, too, while retaining that fulness. And 
whoever will make and preserve a Pauline conse- 
cration, and lead a Pauline life, will have these 
marked crises and uplifts through the entire pro- 
bationary stay in the Church. Indeed, no one can 
retain the freshness and power of holiness without 
frequent divine visitations, secured by fastings, 
wrestlings, and waitings under the light, and draw- 
ings of the Holy Spirit. Here is the secret of so 
much weakness and inefficiency among Christians, 
even among the entirely sanctified : so few refresh- 
ings. 



CHAPTER XII. 

CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY. 

THE Apostolic Church was a witnessing church. 
Peter could say, in his first sermon after the 
Pentecostal baptism, in confirmation of the truths 
he had uttered, "We all are witnesses." The 
church of the primitive fathers was the same ; but 
as her piety waned, her testimony became less 
positive and more ambiguous, until it was dropped 
altogether, or substituted by a less offensive " hope 
so." 

Methodism originated in the recovery of experi- 
ence and testimony, and has ever been a witness- 
ing church. The number, clearness, and depth of 
her love-feast and class-meeting testimonies have 
ever been regarded as her religious pulse, indicat- 
ing the measure of her spiritual life and aggres- 
sive force. But she has drifted from this position 
and taken new bearings, as many of her leaders 
speak and write in a manner to discourage clear- 
ness and depth in religious confession. This 
chapter is an attempt to arrest this error and 
encourage witnessing for Christ. In doing this 
we notice — 



CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY. 99 

THE NATURE OF WITNESSING. 

To witness is to give testimony, and testimony 
is a statement of facts within the knowledge of the 
witness. Witnessing, therefore, involves three 
things : first, facts ; second, a knowledge of the 
facts; and third, a statement of the facts known. 

The facts to which ice are to testify. — These 
may be learned by a reference to the apostolic 
testimony. By such reference it will be seen that 
their testimony was embodied in the statements 
that Christ was risen from the dead ; that He had 
appeared unto them ; that He was a divine Saviour, 
and that He had saved them. A divine and in- 
imitably expressive summary of their testimony 
was, " Christ liveth in me." Here is the whole 
matter: Christ alive, living in them, controlling 
them at will, and consequently saving " them to 
the uttermost." 

Our testimony is to be substantially the same : 
" I am crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live ; 
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me : and the life 
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of 
the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself 
for me." This is a distinct and emphatic state- 
ment, excluding all equivocation and ambiguit}', 
that as Christ's body was crucified on the cross, 
so our carnal nature is " dead indeed unto sin ; " 
that as Christ lives in us, we are " alive unto God; " 
that the life we now live we live by the faith of 
the Son of God; and as the carnal "I" is cruci- 



100 THE NEW NAME. 

fied, and " Christ liveth in me," having His own 
way with us, He consequently purifies our hearts 
by faith. It will be noticed that all this is a pres- 
ent realization, and not the experience of twenty, 
ten, or one year ago. In the light of this inspired 
formula of testimony, which is as pronounced and 
emphatic as language can make it, much of what 
now passes for witnessing is nothing more than 
humiliating confessions of ignorance of the great 
theme of personal salvation, and expressions of 
fears that we may become too positive and too fre- 
quent in our statements of conscious deliverance 
from sin. 

The knowledge of these facts. — This knowledge 
is reached by a complete submission to God, and 
a hearty acceptance of Christ in all His offices. 
It has ever been the order of God to communicate, 
to those who truly accept His Son, the knowledge of 
their pardon, adoption, and purification. From the 
days of Abel to this day, they who, through faith, 
offer to God an acceptable sacrifice, obtain witness 
that they are righteous, God testifying of their 
gifts. The abstract faith that Christ is a Saviour, 
a desire ever so ardent to be saved by Him, and a 
hope ever so bright that He will save, all conspiring, 
do not qualify us to take the witness stand for 
Christ. Every civil and criminal court in the world 
would dismiss from the stand, as an incompetent 
witness, one who could only affirm a belief, a 
desire, and a hope concerning the facts involved in 



CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY. 101 

the suit. So the case under consideration demands 
knowledge, and nothing short of knowledge will do. 
And as our relation to, and moral condition before, 
God, are matters known certainly to none but 
God, we must derive the knowledge in question 
from Him; "the Spirit itself" must bear "witness 
with our spirits." God must testify to us before 
we are competent to testify for Him ; or, a clear 
and satisfactory experience of salvation is a neces- 
sity to evangelical testimony. 

A statement of facts known. — This may be 
either oral or written. The apostles, and many 
since their time, have been led, for the benefit of 
others, to make statements both oral and written 
of their religious experiences. But the point now 
to be considered and vital to the subject is, that a 
statement of the facts known be made. Just here 
has sprung up a very serious error, and is sup- 
ported by very plausible and specious arguments. 
It is said we should make our lives declare the facts 
known to us concerning Christ and His salvation, 
and let our utterances be few, and far removed from 
offensive positives. It is true, too much cannot be 
said upon the necessity of a consistent Christian 
life ; for besides its necessity to personal salvation, 
the testimony insisted upon is worthless without 
it. A holy and blameless life is a necessary basis of 
credibility to religious testimony ; and it is only in 
this figurative and secondary sense that our lives 
can be said to testify. They testify because they 



102 THE NEW NAME. 

render credible our statements concerning the work 
of grace in our hearts. The outward life, however 
exemplary, can declare nothing definite of its ori- 
gin: whether the visible excellences are inborn in 
the subject, whether they are the result of disci- 
pline or self-culture, or whether they arise from 
the Christ-life within. This can be known certainly 
to the observer only by the testimony of the subject 
himself. Wicked persons have, in some instances, 
cultivated such complete control over themselves 
for the advantage it afforded in their calling, that 
they can endure the most exhaustive abuse without 
exhibiting the least degree of resentment. They 
seem to be models of Christian meekness and for- 
bearance while, according to their own confession, 
the heart is tilled with hatred, pride, and every 
other depraved affection. While, therefore, we 
should insist upon a holy life, we should insist, for 
the glory of Christ, that the origin of that life be 
declared. Testimony implies statement ; and state- 
ment, in connection with consistent Christian liv- 
ing, is the only way we can truly and fully witness 
for Christ. 

In this statement of facts known to the witness, 
" the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the 
truth" should be brought forth. An effort at 
ambiguity or concealment by a witness on the 
stand is a high offence against the civil statute, an 
insult to a court of justice, and a fearful debase- 
ment of the witness himself. And it is alarming 



CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY. 103 

how extensively this is practised on the witness 
stand of Christ, and encouraged by many as marks 
of Christian modesty and humility. No wonder 
spiritual feebleness and death ensue upon a practice 
so unreasonable and unscriptural, — a practice, to 
all intent and purpose, of bearing false witness! 
Examine next, — 

THE OBLIGATION TO WITNESS FOR CHRIST. 

" Ye shall be witnesses unto me " is an imperative 
order. It is not a matter of option with us when, 
where, and whether we witness or not. " Ye shall 
be witnesses" at all times, in all places, "to every 
creature," "and unto the uttermost parts of the 
earth." This obligation will appear if we consider — 
That it is demanded by the constitution of 
things. — The sciences and the arts are largely 
dependent upon testimony for their progress and 
development. To the practice of medicine and 
the administration of justice, testimony is abso- 
lutely indispensable. The same may be said of 
every enterprise among men, including the great- 
est of all enterprises, the salvation of the world 
through the preaching of the gospel. The gospel 
belongs to the domain of fact, and submits it- 
self to the test of experiment. The most fatal 
errors that men can indulge are, inattention to the 
testimony of those who have experienced the salva- 
tion of the gospel, and a failure to test, under the 
illumination and guidance of the Holy Ghost, the 



104 THE NEW NAME. 

riches of grace for themselves ; but instead they ac- 
cept and follow the teachings of religious theorists 
and theological speculators. And because the gos- 
pel is susceptible of spiritual demonstration in every 
man's soul, it is imperative that all seek this experi- 
mental acquaintance with its truths, and ever after 
" testify the gospel of the grace of God." We say, 
seek an experimental acquaintance with the truths ; 
for many attempt the testimony without the expe- 
rience, and are as far from recommending Christ 
as the pale, feeble, and emaciated invalid, who 
attempts the recommendation of the physician who 
has been treating his case for years. Such testi- 
mony is a false and .calumnious representation of 
Christ, calculated to drive men from Him, and 
render practically inefficient, as is now seen in the 
sad state of many places, the divinely appointed 
methods of saving the world. While testimony is 
to be insisted upon, a true experience, therefore, 
leading to a correct outer and inner life, must 
be pressed as a basal necessity. The obligation 
appears again from the fact — 

That testimony is one of the weapons to be used 
in the conquest of the world. — The Saviour did 
not burden His soldiers with weighty knapsacks of 
clothing and heavy weapons. One coat, one pair of 
shoes, two light weapons, offensive and defensive 
— the word and the testimony, — made up their 
outfit. And as soon as they received, under the 
Pentecostal baptism, marching orders, Peter is seen 



CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY. 105 

wielding the Word by presenting Christ from the 
prophecies, and then charging upon the enemy by 
the testimony, declaring, — to put an end to all con- 
troversy, and to hush all opposition, — "we all are 
witnesses." 

When Peter and John, by appointment of the 
church at Jerusalem, went down to Samaria to 
lead those converted under the labors of Philip 
into the richer and deeper experience of the Pente- 
costal grace, it is said that, in accomplishing the 
work of their mission, they " testified and preached 
the word of the Lord." This inspired statement 
assumes that preaching the Word is not identical, 
as some affirm, with testifying for Christ ; it teaches, 
moreover, that the apostles used their testimony 
in connection with their preaching, and depended 
upon it, as well as the Word, for the successful 
prosecution of their work. 

Paul, in the unusually full account which he 
gives before King Agrippa of his conversion and 
call to the ministry, states that he received from 
Jesus, whom he persecuted, this order: "Rise, and 
stand upon thy feet : for I have appeared unto thee 
for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a 
witness both of these things which thou hast seen, 
and of those things in the which I will appear 
unto thee." This language clearly recognizes a 
distinction between preaching and witnessing; 
that they both belong to, and are essential parts of, 
ministerial duty ; that a call to the pulpit is also a 



106 THE NEW NAME. 

summons to the witness-stand for Christ; and 
teaches that ministerial success depends upon the 
skilful use of the two weapons already named, the 
Word and the testimony. The shameful and 
humiliating failure of so many ministers, in their 
labors for the evangelization of the world, is not 
the result of defective sermonizing so much as 
failure to use the testimony properly in connection 
with their sermons. 

Bishop William Taylor compares the Word and 
the testimony to the two blades of scissors. 
Preaching the Word alone is like using one blade 
of the scissors, making ragged work ; but join the 
testimony of a glowing experience, and it is like 
adjusting the second blade to the first, making a 
perfect instrument, cutting with the greatest ease 
and precision. In harmony with this is the fact 
that no minister or lay laborer, however feeble his 
expositions of truth, who preserves, by penitent 
faith, a clear and well defined religious experience, 
and testifies definitely to the fact, and, regardless 
of criticism, affirms his personal acquaintance with 
the truths he utters, and does this in every dis- 
course, never fails in his labor, or complains of 
barren fields. The immutable decrees of heaven 
will as soon fail as the laborer who has the Com- 
forter consciously abiding with him, and uses his 
testimony constantly in connection with the Word, 
will fail in bringing souls to Christ, at all times, 
and in all places where he may be divinely called 



CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY. 107 

to work. Finally, the duty of testifying appears — 
From its potver both to stir and overcome the 
devil and wicked men. — John was banished to the 
isle of Patmos " for the word of God and the testi- 
mony of Jesus Christ." Had he preached the 
Word with the zeal and eloquence of Apollos, and 
left out the testimony, he would have doubtless 
lived out his days under the protection of the 
Roman emperor, died at last without an enemy 
and lamented by all. But the testimony could not 
be endured, and was suppressed by the exile of the 
witness. While in banishment for the Word and 
testimony, God gave him a view of unseen things, 
showing him the " souls of them that were slain 
for the word of God, and for the testimony which 
they held," thus revealing to him that he was not 
the only sufferer on this line. 

The Jews with great difficulty, being " cut to the 
heart," and "gnashing on him with their teeth," 
endured the preaching of Stephen ; but when he 
closed his discourse with the testimony, as all reli- 
gious teachers ought to do, saying, " Behold, I see 
the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing 
on the right hand of God," they could endure no 
longer, and "cried out with a loud voice, and 
stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one 
accord, and cast him out of the city, and stoned 
him," and thus stopped the testimonj^ by the 
murder of the witness. From that day to this the 
devil and all his emissaries have tried to suppress 



108 THE NEW NAME. 

testimony for Jesus, either by ambiguity, indefi- 
niteness, or the substitution of something less 
offensive or less powerful. And this " wrath with 
the woman/' — the Church, — and " war with the 
remnant of her seed which keep the commandments 
of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ," 
will doubtless continue while carnality has a place 
in the human heart. But the very power that 
so stirs the " accuser of the brethren," effectually 
overcomes and conquers him ; for " they overcame 
him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of 
their testimony ; " while u they loved not their 
lives unto the death." And it is because of the 
power of the testimony as a weapon, both offensive 
and defensive, in spiritual warfare, that the Saviour 
has given the order, " Ye shall be witnesses unto 
me." 

It has not escaped the notice of careful observers 
that too large a portion of ministers and lay 
workers in the Church see their palmiest days and 
witness the most satisfactory results of their labors 
in their early years, and often complain that they 
are not now so successful in bringing sinners to 
Christ as they once were, and wonder that it is so. 
This wonder will cease if they study, even hastily, 
the subject of this discourse, and contrast the glow- 
ing experience and definite and oft repeated testi- 
mony of those happier times with their doubtful 
experience and equivocal testimony of to-day. 

If the foregoing statements are true, impera- 



CHRISTIAN TESTIMONY. 109 

tive indeed must be the duty of seeking a conscious 
union with Christ, an " anointing that abideth and 
teacheth," an " unction from the Holy One," where- 
by ye shall " know all things," and a fortitude to wit- 
ness for Christ definitely, distinctly, fully, fearlessly, 
and at all hazards, amidst the frowns of existing 
formalism. Oh that all the teachers of righteousness, 
both in the pulpit and pew, would study this theme 
until they would catch its inspiration, and at once, 
all over Christendom, after they have made the 
most eloquent and powerful pleas for Jesus 
possible under the moving effusions of the Holy 
Spirit, would convert the pulpits and platforms 
into witness stands ! Such an event would shake 
both hemispheres in a day, and break the slumber 
of ages. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
SPIRITUAL ENTERPRISE. 

IN a careful investigation of the nature of spiritual 
enterprise, natural law becomes very apparent in 
the spiritual world. On two different occasions 
the Saviour used an expression, proverbial in His 
day, setting forth this thought : " For unto every 
one that hath shall be given, and he shall have 
abundance: but from him that hath not shall be 
taken away even that which he hath." This 
proverb, doubtless, originated in the fact, patent in 
all ages and among all men, that the more capital 
traders have, the more they prosper, with proper 
care, because of greater facilities for making gain. 
Thus, the Saviour teaches that the principles and 
laws expressed in this saying extend beyond the 
circles of commerce, and reach to the unseen realms 
of spirit. 

These principles and facts involved in the con- 
stitution of things and the structure of our spiritual 
nature may be expressed in the following simple 
statements : — 

1. The more grace we have the more we get. — 
This appears in the peculiar structure of the para- 



SPIRITUAL ENTERPRISE. Ill 

ble of the talents, in connection with which the 
Saviour uses the proverb. The talent forfeited by 
the unfaithful servant was not, as we might have 
supposed, given to the servant that received two, 
and by faithful use added two more, but to the 
servant, no more faithful, that received five and 
increased them to ten. 

Any other construction would not have been 
true to nature. A limb on a tree that gets a start 
of the others will reach huge proportions at the 
expense of every other branch. In the world of 
commerce the merchant that gets the advantage of 
his fellows in capital stock will, by wise trading, 
and without intending it, close up the houses of 
his competitors, and, sooner or later, probably 
drive them from the field. 

The same principle appears in Paul's remarkable 
solicitude for the more advanced and prosperous 
churches of his times. Whilst he prayed for all, 
for the more spiritual, such as the church at 
Thessalonica, he prayed " day and night exceed- 
ingly," that he might see their face and perfect 
that which was lacking in their faith. The per- 
fecting of this church so near the point of power, 
the apostle saw, was the wisest move he could make 
in his battle with the powers of darkness, and in 
his efforts to conquer the world for Christ. Its 
entire sanctification would elevate the spiritual 
forces of the kingdom of Christ on earth more than 
the organization of many new churches; hence 



112 THE NEW NAME. 

the apostle's care for these saints, and their rapid 
growth in spirituality; hence, also, as a fact of 
experience and observation, the more spiritually- 
minded the members of any church are, the more 
they labor for the cause of God, the more they 
mingle with the pious, the more they pray and are 
prayed for, the more grace they crave, and the 
more of the divine nature they grasp. " For unto 
every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have 
abundance." 

2. Our income of grace comes to us by the use of 
what we have. — Money is gained by its careful and 
remunerative investment. Strength of muscle is 
gained, in a state of health, by taking wholesome 
nourishment and suitable exercise. Increased keen- 
ness of intellectual perception is acquired by proper 
mental discipline. So the graces of the Spirit, once 
implanted in the soul by the Holy Ghost in answer 
to the prayer of faith, are developed by suitable 
exercise upon appropriate objects and on proper 
occasions. 

As a careless use of money brings loss, and as 
the exercise of muscle without proper food or in 
diseased conditions of the body rapidly exhausts 
strength, so an injudicious use of the graces vitiates 
and destroys them. To attempt to exercise the gift 
of prayer in opening the dance, the charity ball, 
and other carnal amusements, as ministers and lay- 
men have been led sometimes to do by designing 
worldlings, is to grieve the Holy Spirit. And a 



SPIRITUAL ENTERPRISE. 113 

continuous exercise of the graces in the legitimate 
work of the church, without taking spiritual nour- 
ishment in the closet and from the Word of God, 
will not insure an increase in their volume and 
power. Nor will a zealous observance of closet 
duties and scriptural reading, with proper attention 
to outside work, insure this increase while there 
remains spiritual disease, and no proper effort to 
reach spiritual wholeness. 

Right here is discovered one of the secrets of 
so much formalism among those who are regarded 
as the most faithful among church members and 
most attentive to the claims of religion. They 
have not guarded against the encroachments of 
worldliness and carnal pleasures, and have insen- 
sibly glided into exercising their Christian graces 
in connection with getting gain, ambitions for place 
and position, efforts to shine in society, and other 
worldly aspirations and strivings, till all true 
spirituality has departed, and left nothing but the 
hollow form. The graces of the Spirit must be 
exercised upon appropriate objects, on suitable 
occasions, and in connection with heart-soundness 
to insure a rapid and symmetrical increase in 
volume and power. This is rational and scriptural. 

3. We lose the grace given, be it little or much, 
by disuse. — Money will be used up in current 
expenses and squandered unless profitably invested. 
Strength and firmness of muscle give place to 
feebleness and tenderness by disuse; and those 



114 THE NEW NAME. 

who indulge sleep and loiter much and exercise 
little lose vital force and nervous energy. 

So disuse will enfeeble and soon destroy the 
graces of the Spirit. The penitent who fails to 
use the light given him will go into darkness more 
dense than ever experienced before. The truly 
converted believer will backslide, and become 
more obdurate than in original unregeneracy, if he 
does not follow on to know the Lord. The entirely 
sanctified Christian that does not add to his faith 
virtue, and to his virtue knowledge, and to his 
knowledge patience, etc., is blind, and cannot see 
afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged 
from his old sins. No matter what the measure of 
gracious attainments, they will escape from their 
possessor if he does not use them, and forget those 
things which are behind, and reach forth unto those 
things which are before, and press toward the mark 
for the prize. 

Here is found the necessity for the church fair, 
the religious festival, the bazaar, and other carnal 
appliances, to render religious labor and sacrifice 
tolerable to a large number of professing Chris- 
tians. , They have lost, through disuse, the spiritual 
relish imparted at conversion, and have no affinity 
for true worship and spiritual work. They must 
assimilate all Christian effort, as far as possible, to 
the carnal and worldly before they can engage in 
it. Spiritual life, with all its holy cravings, has 
passed away, and the fleshly and carnal have taken 
its place. 



SPIRITUAL ENTERPRISE. 115 

Here, too, is found the sad cause of so much 
abortive pulpit labor. Ministerial power with 
God and man, a gift conferred in the commission 
to " go into all the world and preach the gospel 
to every creature," goes into disuse and utter loss 
when the preacher responds to the call for popular 
preaching, or allows any other aim than soul-saving. 
The ministerial gift, which is the power to save 
souls, cannot bear disuse ; and yet a fearfully heavy 
percentage of all the clergymen of Christendom 
do not think, in their preparations for the pulpit, or 
in their deliverances from them, of bringing the 
perishing directly to Christ. The cry of penitence 
or the shout of a liberated soul would be a painful 
surprise and unendurable annoyance to many 
incumbents of the modern pulpit. 

Dear reader, remember that the spiritual enter- 
prise in which we are engaged contemplates a 
preparation, a celestial ambition, to cast our crowns 
before the throne, and to join the host of the blood- 
washed in the adoring proclamation, " Worthy is 
the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and 
riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and 
glory, and blessing. " 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SEEKING AND STRIVING. 

'"THE Saviour discriminates between these words, 
-* and affirms that seekers of salvation will fail, 
and strivers only will succeed in entering the 
heavenly state. His language is, " Strive to enter 
in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, 
will seek to enter in, and shall not be able" 
(Luke 13 : 24). It is therefore of infinite moment to 
every person to know what the Saviour means by 
these words : what He includes in the seeking which 
will fail, and the striving which will succeed. Let 
us, then, prayerfully inquire the Lord's — 

Meaning of the word " seek." — He cannot mean less 
than a desire for salvation, attended with effort more 
or less earnest to enter the pearly gates. Persons 
who have no desires for a thing, or having desires 
make no effort to secure, cannot be said in any proper 
sense to seek for it ; hence, in close connection with 
the admonition quoted, the Saviour represents the 
seekers who fail as pleading their former character 
and conduct : " Then shall ye begin to say, We 
have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou 
hast taught in our streets." To this plea the 



SEEKING AND STRIVING. Ill 

" master of the house," or final Judge, is repre- 
sented as uttering no denial, but concedes the 
truth of the allegation. 

Now eating and drinking in the presence of 
another, according to Oriental custom, means 
belonging to the same caste ; it means more or 
less intimacy with such persons, and a recognized 
place among his circle of friends. The expression, 
" Thou hast taught in our streets," indicates an ac- 
quaintance with, an acceptance of, Christ's system 
of religion. These statements, therefore, are the 
equivalents of saying : We belonged to Thy people, 
we associated with Thy friends ; we heard sound, 
evangelical preaching ; our pastors were true em- 
bassadors, and we are appalled at this denial of 
admittance into heaven. 

Where is delinquency ? It appears in part in 
the verbiage of their plea. " We have eaten and 
drunk in thy presence," but did not get so near 
Thee as the beloved disciple, and lean on Thy 
bosom. u Thou hast taught in our streets," but we 
did not invite Thee into our homes and among 
our children ; our religion was not so much of the 
closet and family type as it was of the public and 
churchly kind ; nevertheless we were regarded as 
Christians, and are * terror-stricken at this awful 
and unexpected issue of our confession and faith. 
The wording of the plea admits apathy and lack of 
deep earnestness and zeal. 

But bad as was this apathy, the Saviour, in the 



118 THE NEW NAME. 

same connection, names something still worse. In 
answer to their plea of identification with Christ 
and His people, the Saviour represents the Judge 
as saying, " I know you not whence ye are ; depart 
from me, all ye workers of iniquity." They con- 
tinued to indulge some forms of sin in connection 
with their profession of faith in Christ. The 
modern reader is apt to gather from the phrase, 
"workers of iniquity," pictures of assassins, wife- 
murderers, and other high felonies; but the Greek 
is as correctly rendered by the words, " practicers of 
wrong," and gives the reader a better understand- 
ing of the Saviour's meaning. The chief difficulty, 
then, with the seekers which the Saviour has in 
His mind, is the habitual practice of some known 
wrong in connection with their professedly religious 
life. ' 

The great body of church members to-day acknowl- 
edge that they indulge in tempers, or words, or acts, 
or some form of peccadillos which they know is not 
right, and yet view themselves as on the way to 
heaven. Now, according to the teaching of the 
scriptures cited, these professors of religion must 
meet with an awful disappointment in the end; 
and as they urge the plea, " We have eaten and 
drunk in thy presence," they must hear the final 
Judge say : " I know you not whence ye are ; de- 
part from me, all ye workers of iniquity." Though 
you were numbered with my people, you were 
worldly ; you men were worldly ; you men were 



SEEKING AND STRIVING. 119 

ambitious of place and position ; you were covet- 
ous, and practiced the tricks of trade, and did 
other things which you knew were wrong. You 
women, though members of the church, were 
vain and proud; you loved glitter and show; 
your toilet, and all your social arrangements, were 
shaped largely by the customs of worldly society. 
You young people, though truly converted, did not 
" follow on to know the Lord," but yielded to the 
witchery of fun and frolic ; you sought pleasure in 
sensual gratifications and worldly amusements. 

These all practiced wrong in some form, and there- 
by, through their influence and example, worked the 
same iniquity into others around them. No form 
of seeking can succeed, however zealous and cor- 
rect in other respects, unless it abandons all forms 
of known sin, however subtle and popular. The 
seeking must be sincere, earnest, with all the heart, 
amounting to soul-striving. " Strive to enter in." 
Let us next inquire the Saviour's — 

Meaning of the ivord "strive." — " Strive" is the 
Anglican of the Greek " Agonidzomi" and was well 
understood by those who heard the Saviour use it. 
The word was used in that day to express the regi- 
men and exercise of the Olympic gamesters, with 
which the Saviour's hearers at the time were very 
familiar. To see the force of this word to-day it 
is only necessary to consult the historic records of 
those games ; and in doing this it will be discov- 
ered that, however extensive the details of the 



120 THE NEW NAME. 

Isthmian discipline, they were all comprehended 
in a few simple rules. Whoever enrolled himself 
among these combatants devoted himself wholly to 
these sports, and abandoned everything which 
would not conduce to muscular strength and activ- 
ity ; he adopted such hygenic rules and habits as 
looked to the same end, and took such care in 
dressing as would not interfere with the vital func- 
tions, nor prevent the free development of every 
muscle in all its parts ; and thus in actual com- 
bat he could bring into exercise the greatest 
activity and strength of which his constitution was 
capable. 

In the light of these historic facts, the believer 
can readily perceive that the Saviour's language 
urges him to bend all his business of selling and 
buying, all his domestic and social habits, and 
everything entering into his responsible life, to the 
one work of saving his soul ; as these combatants 
would not eat anything that would make bulk 
without strength, so the believer sees that the 
admonition forbids him to read or voluntarily hear 
any communication, or in any other way take into 
his mind and heart what will not awaken spiritual 
relishes and develop spiritual fibre and muscle ; 
and as these athletes were careful to dress lightly 
and loosely," to give perfect muscular freedom in 
exercise, so the Saviour's simile enjoins extreme 
caution to preserve complete religious freedom. 
No marriage unions are to be formed, no business 



SEEKING AND STRIVING. 121 

partnerships are to be entered, no social compacts 
are to be joined, no membership in any club is to 
be accepted, nor any other complication allowed, 
which will interfere with Christian liberty. There 
must be perfect freedom to pray, to testify, to 
labor, or to do anything which the interests of the 
soul and God's glory demands. 

It is a painful and ominous thing to see men 
and women, professing to be Christians, moving in 
religious work only as their circle moves, and 
fearful to take any step, even to execute the clear 
orders of God, unless their circle approbates the 
move. It is a pitiable state for a woman to be so 
bound by the conventionalties of society that she 
must consult the circle of her lady friends and 
associates how she may use or treat her husband. 
But such a sight is more tolerable than to see pro- 
fessed Christians consulting their companions or 
patrons, or clubs or orders, how they shall treat 
the heavenly Bridegroom ; and yet this is actually 
the daily practice of all those seekers of salvation 
who do not strive to enter in at the strait gate. 

There must be such a separation from holiness 
cliques and cant on the one hand, and churchly 
dictation on the other, as will allow the believer to 
walk alone with God. Such a separation will not 
necessarily ignore associations with the professors 
of holiness, nor discard church authority and order ; 
but will yield all proper obedience to the one, and 
enjoy holy affiliations with the other. It simply 



122 THE NEW NAME. 

forbids obsequiousness and slavery to those and 
other legitimate influences and forces. 

Reader, are you a striver or a seeker? You 
ought not to live another hour without a clear and 
satisfactory settlement of this momentous ques- 
tion. What a dreadful thing for church members 
to hear at last, " Depart, ye workers of iniquity!" 



CHAPTER XV. 

RUINOUS TRADITIONS. 

THE Saviour complained of the Jews of His day 
that they made the commandments of God 
of none effect through their traditions, and gave 
an instance to justify the complaint. The law of 
God requires children to love and honor their 
parents; but the tradition adduced allowed chil- 
dren to say to infirm and helpless parents, " corban" 
meaning that their property was consecrated to 
God, and this released them from all obligation to 
use that property for the parents' support, though 
they could use it for their own comfort and main- 
tenance. 

A similar complaint could be laid in against 
no inconsiderable portion of Christendom to-day. 
There are thousands who have gone through some 
form, private or public, of consecrating their time, 
talents, and property to God, but who continue to 
use them all as before for their own personal 
aggrandizement. Indeed, some, after this quasi 
consecration takes place, give less time and money 
to benevolent enterprises than before, and seem to 
take on more avarice and cupidity than ever, and 



124 THE NEW NAME. 

are noted more for their worldly greediness than 
for their devotion to God. It is the principle or 
tradition of the old Jewish corban acted over 
again. 

But the popular traditions which are to be exam- 
ined in this discourse are : — 

(1.) The notion that people may be Christians and 
yet practice some of the less offensive forms of 
sin. — It is no uncommon thing to hear members 
of churches acknowledge that they habitually do 
what they know they ought not to do, and leave 
undone what they ought to do, and at the same 
time profess the Christian faith and hope. They do 
not, it is true, profess the highest type of piety, 
— rather wish to be understood as disclaiming it, — 
but, nevertheless, claim positively a gracious state 
and a comfortable assurance of the divine favor. 
They assume that their churches teach, and that it 
is universally allowed, that professors of religion 
may live this way provided they do not profess 
more than they practice, and avoid all pretensions 
to pre-eminent piety. 

Now there is not a Christian church in the 
world that can properly be said to teach such an 
error. True, some teach that believers, because of 
disabilities entailed by the fall, and not removed 
this side of death by redemptive provisions, must 
sin in thought, word, and deed during life, but not 
that they may choose wrong-doing at any time or 
in any thing. And all churches, however scrip- 



RUINOUS TRADITIONS. 125 

tural their system of belief, teach that the purest 
of Christians will unwittingly depart at times from 
the rule of absolute right, and that such depart- 
ures need the atonement ; but they insist in their 
creeds, in their religious literature, and from their 
pulpits, that Christians must not indulge in volun- 
tary transgressions, be they ever so popular or 
harmless in the estimation of the people. 

Methodism has given utterance to her teachings 
upon this subject in one of her standard com- 
mentaries. Dr. Whedon, in the opening of his 
expositions on the sixth chapter of Romans, says, 
" The Christian faith, in its very essence and act, 
is an utter abandonment of sin, and a most entire 
and perfect self-surrender to holiness ; that is, self- 
surrender to Christ, who is the complete embodi- 
ment of perfect goodness." According to this, the 
person who does not practice "an utter abandon- 
ment of sin" does not possess Christian faith. 
Nor can he claim it until he adds to "an utter 
abandonment of sin," " a most entire and perfect 
self-surrender to holiness." And this is no over- 
drawn statement of the truth. No penitent seeker 
of salvation ever reached the experience of con- 
scious pardon until his abandonment of sin 
was u utter," and his self-surrender to holiness, or 
Christ, was " most entire and perfect." 

Now a gracious state can be retained on no 
other condition than that upon which it is received ; 
so that if those professors who indulge some forms 



126 THE NEW NAME. 

of sin were once converted, they have lost the 
grace by their indulgence in forbidden pleasures. 
It is an alarming fact that the body of professing 
Christians in the different churches of to-day do 
not utterly abandon sin, and do not make a most 
entire and perfect self-surrender to holiness. They 
do not claim this ; indeed, they take some pains to 
disclaim such a state, which has come to appear to 
them as too advanced for common Christians. 
They have so far j r ielded to the popular error, or 
ruinous tradition under consideration, that they 
have made the law of God in this matter of none 
effect. 

The divine command upon this subject is : 
" Come out from among them, and be ye separate, 
saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing ; 
and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, 
and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the 
Lord Almighty." This commands a separation 
from sinners, and forbids contact with every form 
of moral defilement. " Whosoever abideth in him 
sinneth not." This leaves no place for question- 
able self-indulgence. " Whosoever is born of God 
doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in 
him ; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." 
A true Christian, therefore, however feeble his 
spiritual life, " doth not commit sin ; " the divine 
life, or seed of God in the soul, forbids and pre- 
vents it. To voluntarily indulge any spiritual 
uncleanness after adoption^, is to forfeit the grace, 



RUINOUS TRADITIONS. 127 

and many do this under the power of the tradition 
we are now condemning. 

Another popular error or ruinous tradition 
which we will now examine is the wide-spread 
notion — 

(2.) That people may be Christians and not aim 
at the highest results of evangelical faith. — It is a 
sad fact, patent to all close observers, that the great 
body of church members do not aim at the higher 
phases of Christian experience and life. They 
have accepted the notion now to be condemned, 
they have assumed it to be their privilege, to 
choose a low plane in religion; they have assumed 
this to be the teaching of the churches ; they have 
assumed that, being certain of their regeneration at 
one time, it is improper to worry about advanced 
stages in religious experience ; and that severe ex- 
ercises of devotion and penance are to be avoided 
as undesirable and useless. Hence they give them- 
selves to an easy-going and self-indulgent piety, 
which, so far from increasing the volume and power 
of the graces received at their conversion, gradually 
dissipates them, and leaves nothing of the experi- 
ence except the memories of their regeneration in 
the long ago. This is the practical working of the 
tradition under notice. 

Now what was said concerning the churches and 
the error just examined, may, with equal truth, be 
said of the churches and this error. There is not 
a denomination of believers in Christendom to-day, 



128 THE NEW NAME. 

and never has been, which teaches in her current 
religious literature, in her hymnology, in her biog- 
raphy, in her standards of doctrines, or in the 
approved utterances of her pulpits, that Christians 
may be indifferent concerning religious progress. 
They all insist upon a growth in grace and the 
knowledge of the Lord, and, of course, on a scrip- 
tural growth ; not a weak and sickly thing, but a 
strong and vigorous increase and improvement, 
such as provided for in the gospel, and such as 
will please God. And He could not be pleased 
with a tardy advancement when He has provided 
for a very rapid movement forward, and orders His 
believing subjects to "be strong in the Lord;" 
not take steps toward strength, but now "be 
strong," at once. Hence, no Christian can be 
innocent and please God, and remain a weak be- 
liever. 

Here permit the introduction of two or three 
very high authorities upon the point in hand. 
The first is extracted from the writings of Dr. 
Doddridge, an eminent dissenting minister. He 
said, " To allow yourself deliberately to sit down 
satisfied with any imperfect attainments in religion, 
and to look upon a more confirmed and improved 
state of it as what you do not desire ... is one 
of the most fatal signs that you are an entire 
stranger to the first principles of it." Here Dr. 
Doddridge takes the position that the professor of 
religion who is satisfied to remain in spiritual fee- 



RUINOUS TRADITIONS. 129 

bleness, and looks upon the more advanced stages 
of the religious life as undesirable, knows nothing 
yet about the first principles of practical Christi- 
anity. 

Dr. Barnes, a celebrated Presbyterian minister 
and commentator, in commenting on 2 Cor. 7 : 1, 
wrote as follows : " No man can be a Christian who 
does not sincerely desire perfection, and who does 
not constantly aim at it. If any man is conscious 
that the idea of being made at once perfectly holy 
would be unpleasant or painful, he may set it 
down as certain evidence that he is a stranger to 
religion." This is a very strong putting of the 
case, yet not more so than the searching truths of 
God and the light of eternity will justify. The 
position is taken that, unless the believer sincerely 
desires and constantly aims at the most advanced 
phases of religious life and experience, perfection 
of Christian character, he is not a Christian at all; 
and that if the idea of being made at once perfectly 
holy is unpleasant or painful, he is a stranger to 
true spiritual life. In view of the moral condition 
of the churches to-day, this remarkable statement 
of Dr. Barnes brands the great mass of professing 
Christians with formalism and irreligion. 

Methodism has lately given her pronunciamento 
upon this subject. The General Conference of 
1884, without one dissenting vote, passed this reso- 
lution : " We hold as strenuously as ever the Wes- 
ley an doctrine of perfect love, or entire sanctifi- 



130 THE NEW NAME. 

cation, and deem it important that all our people 
should be affectionately and earnestly urged to 
seek its attainment as a personal experience. " 
In this utterance the embodied wisdom and piety 
of Episcopal Methodism has declared it important, 
not indifferent, that all our people, not a few of 
them, be urged, not carelessly advised, to seek 
entire sanctification, the highest gracio'us state 
known to us. 

This accords with the divine command in the 
case. God orders young converts to grow in grace, 
to purify their hearts, to be holy, to cleanse them- 
selves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, 
and to perfect holiness in the fear of the Lord. 
And these orders to advance in religious life are 
as imperative as the orders to begin the religious 
life. But the great body of professing Christians 
have made these commands of none effect through 
the ruinous tradition just examined. 

In closing, we may briefly notice another error 
of the same sisterhood ; viz., the notion — 

(3.) That persons who enjoy the higher phases of 
Christian experience should not speak of them. — 
Various reasons are assigned for this view of the 
subject. Some say that a state of inward purity is 
too sacred and holy a matter to speak of, either in 
the family or the church. Others say that the 
profession of such a gracious state so discourages 
young converts and weak Christians that silence 
ought to be observed upon the subject. Others 



RUINOUS TRADITIONS. 131 

say that the confession of entire sanctification is so 
universally offensive to the membership of the 
churches that possessors of the grace should enjoy 
it without offending their brethren by declaring 
their experience. They may enjoy it, but should 
conceal the fact. 

To all this it must be said that all gracious states 
are sacred ariti holy, and any reason for silence on 
one would be a reason for silence on all. Thus, no 
mention c ould be made of justification, regeneration 
or adoption. As to the other, it is not a fact that 
young converts or feeble Christians are discour- 
aged by recitals of God's work in purifying the 
heart, but the very opposite. Nothing so stimu- 
lates and encourages these classes of believers as 
testimony to the power of grace to save from all 
sinning and sinward tendencies. As to the last 
reason for silence upon the subject of heart purity, 
it is impossible and absurd. A purified believer 
cannot conceal his inward state without practicing 
some artifice which does not co-exist with holiness. 
Perfected holiness is freedom from all duplicity, 
guile, and artifice. It is spiritual transparency. 
It is the very nature of this grace to reveal itself in 
prayer, testimony, conversation, and conduct. To 
counsel silence and concealment of this gracious 
state is, therefore, to show a pitiable ignorance of 
its nature. 

The commandments of God upon this matter, 
which the error or tradition in question would 



132 THE NEW NAME. 

make of none effect, are very positive and compre- 
hensive. " Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord" 
to His ancient people. Jesus said to His disci- 
ples, " When the Comforter is come ... he shall 
testify of me : and ye also shall bear witness." 
And again, " Ye shall be witnesses unto me both 
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, 
and unto the uttermost part of the eaTth." David 
said in Ps. 145 : 10-12, " All thy works shall praise 
thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. 
They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and 
talk of thy power; to make known to the sons of 
men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of 
his kingdom." 

The kingdom here mentioned is God's gracious 
and saving work among men, and is called by 
Christ, " the kingdom within you ; " hence it is 
the glory of God's work in the heart of which the 
saints "shall speak," and His marvellous power to 
save of which they " shall talk," and the "glorious 
majesty" and "mighty acts" in delivering from 
sin and sinfulness which they shall "make known 
to the sons of men." It is, therefore, surpassingly 
strange that any teacher of righteousness, in the 
face of this scripture, should discourage testimony 
on the work of grace, and especially on the deep- 
est phases thereof. 

May the time soon come when these traditions 
will have no place except in the history of the past, 
and all who take upon them the name of Christ 



RUINOUS TRADITIONS. 133 

shall be careful to depart from all iniquity, shall 
aim to reach the greatest depths of grace possible 
in this life, and shall ever be ready to declare the 
divine doings among the people. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

FAITH HEALING. 

THERE are two extreme views entertained upon 
the subject of " faith cures." One insists that 
no physical ailments are now cured except in the 
natural way, by medical remedies or some hygienic 
agencies, and that prayer does nothing more than 
secure the divine blessing upon the remedies, or 
produce a state of mind in the sufferers favorable 
to the action of remedies, or favorable to the action 
of the vital functions. The other insists that all 
these ailments, being the result of sin, and hav- 
ing their remedy in the atonement, may at once 
be removed, and the body kept in a state of health 
till probation expires, just as guilt and depravity 
may be removed, and the soul kept in a state of 
innocence and purity by prayer and faith. 

Now it seems to the writer that somewhere 
between these extremes the truth upon this subject 
is to be found ; and a close study of the Scriptures, 
44 comparing spiritual things with spiritual," under 
the illuminations of the Spirit, will conduct the 
sincere inquirer to this truth. Not to travel over 
the whole field of inquiry, but only two or three 



FAITH HEALING. 135 

significant parts, let us first prayerfully study 
Paul on " faith cures;" his experience with his own 
" thorn in the flesh," and his experience with the 
sicknesses of others beloved by him. It is believed 
that this, without a more elaborate examination, 
will lead the careful Bible student to find the 
scriptural position of this deeply interesting sub- 
ject. We notice, then, — 

Paul practiced healing by faith. — In his first 
missionary tour, at Lystra, he healed a man " im- 
potent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's 
womb, who never had walked." This cure was so 
complete and sudden that the cripple " leaped and 
walked," causing the citizens to say, " The gods 
are come down to us in the likeness of men." In 
his third journey, while at Ephesus, " God wrought 
special miracles by the hands of Paul : so that from 
his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs 
or aprons, and the diseases departed from them. " 
In his journey to Rome, toward the close of his 
career, while on the Island of Melita, "The father 
of Publius — chief man of the island, — lay sick of a 
fever and a bloody flux : to whom Paul entered in, 
and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed 
him. So when this was done, others also, which 
had diseases in the island, came, and were healed." 

These records assure us that Paul had the " gifts 
of healing," and exercised them from his earliest 
to his latest ministry ; but it is a significant and 
instructive fact that in all his writings he does 



136 THE NEW NAME. 

not allude to this personal endowment, or intimate 
that healing by faith was any feature of his work, 
except in very few connections, and then incident- 
ally, and in an apparent undertone. Indeed, he 
never mentions these "gifts of healing," except 
to place them in a relatively low position, and to 
declare that they were conferred according to 
God's sovereign pleasure, "severally as he will" 
(1 Cor. 12 : 11) ; hence the possession and exercise 
of " the gifts of healing " are not to be expected by 
every Christian, neither for his own healing nor 
for the healing of others whom he might wish to 
relieve. 

PauVs applications to the mercy-seat for cures were 
not always successful. — He had himself "a thorn 
in the flesh, a messenger of satan to buffet him," 
and he prayed for its removal, but received only 
grace cheerfully to bear it. Whatever may have 
been the nature of this ailment, it is enough for 
our present study to know that it was in the flesh, 
and of satanic origin, and consequently, like all 
other products of sin, had its antidote in the 
atonement. Paul, therefore, praj^ed for deliver- 
ance from it, but failed. This, however, did not 
discourage him, and he made a second applica- 
tion with no better success. But so sure was 
he that redemptive provisions authorized these 
appeals, he made a third application, and received 
the answer, " My grace is sufficient for thee : for 
my strength is made perfect in weakness." This 



FAITH HEALING. 137 

answer was to Paul, he assures us, even more than 
a satisfactory substitute for its removal. It en- 
abled him to " take pleasure " and " most gladly 
glory " in an affliction which, though of satanic 
origin, he now learned was to be a source of power 
to him, and the means of bringing special glory to 
God. This seems to have been an entirely new 
revelation to the great apostle of the Gentiles. 
He learned that the promise to "bear our sick- 
nesses " does not necessarily mean their immediate 
removal ; but to find grace to " take pleasure in " 
and " most gladly glory in " those disabilities w^hich 
cause the power of Christ to rest upon us, he 
learned, is a most glorious and triumphant fulfil- 
ment of this gracious promise. 

Human reason in Paul's day, and even with 
Paul himself, until divinely taught, as in our own 
day, would boldly insist that a healthy body and 
an untrammelled speech would much more glorify 
God than an afflicted "bodily presence," which 
was weak;" and an afflicted "speech," which was 
reputed "contemptible." But the Lord knew what 
was best for Paul and most for the divine glory, 
and rendered a decision in the case, as He has done 
in thousands of similar cases since that day, which 
ought to inspire with proper caution and due 
modesty all who assume to teach the way of God. 
" The Lord seeth not as man seeth." 

Paul did not attempt nor advise a faith cure 
in every case of sickness. — He no doubt prayed for 



138 THE NEW NAME. 

Epaphroditus, who came near dying, but he men- 
tions his recovery as a special mercy coming in the 
ordinary channels of the divine mercies, and not 
as a display of miraculous grace. He surely 
prayed for Trophimus, as any other good man 
would for a sick travelling companion, but with- 
out faith that he would be immediately healed, for 
he left him at Miletum sick. Either he made no 
effort at a faith cure in this case, or he failed in 
the effort, which practically amounts to the same 
thing, and teaches that some sicknesses must run 
their course and fill their mission before they can 
be reached by prayer and faith. 

In his advice to Timothy to use a little wine 
for his stomach's sake and his often infirmities, 
Paul clearly shows that he did not advise a faith 
cure in every case, but recognized the propriety of 
taking medical remedies for diseases under certain 
circumstances. This counsel would seem to come 
from one who had no belief in faith cures ; but 
coming from one who possessed and exercised " the 
gifts of healing " under the divine guidance, it is 
an important factor in fixing the scriptural posi- 
tion of healing by faith. 

Though Paul had the loftiest conceptions of 
atoning provisions, and keyed up language to its 
utmost tension in expressing the wonders of grace 
in the realm of our spiritual nature, yet in refer- 
ence to our escape from physical diseases, and the 
various disabilities which sin has entailed, he uses 



FAITH HEALING. 139 

in the cases just cited, very different language. 
When he speaks of the removal of guilt and 
depravity from the soul, he speaks of an uttermost 
salvation now ; but when he speaks of the redemp- 
tive work upon the rational nature and animal 
man, he looks forward to its completion in the 
resurrection. 

We come now to notice another part of the 
field of inquiry or source of information. St. 
James' prescription for the sick has been regarded, 
by those who take an extreme view of divine heal- 
ing, as positively and forever settling the question 
as to whether all who are sick among believers 
may be healed in answer to prayer. Surely he 
says, " Is any sick among you ? let him call for the 
elders of the church ;■ and let them pray over him, 
anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord : 
and the prayer of faith shall save the sick." 
Hence no Christian may remain sick long and be 
innocent, if he be properly informed upon this 
subject. 

Now what does St. James really teach in these 
words or by this prescription ? Let us go to the 
original text and see what light it and the connect- 
ing passages throw upon this subject. The expres- 
sion " is sick " in the Authorized Version consists 
of a verb and adjective ; but in the Greek it is a 
single verb and in the present tense, which gram- 
marians tell us always involves the thought of 
continuity in that language. Hence, the literal 



140 THE NEW NAME. 

reading would be, "Does any continue sick among 
you?" This suggests that the ordinary means of 
recovery had failed, and now they are directed to 
use the extraordinary. This explanation is ren- 
dered probable by the very character of the Apostle 
James. He was pre-eminently an apostle of works, 
insisting always on the use of means, and showing 
faith by works in harmony with the end contem- 
plated. 

Had he directed the reader how to secure food 
and raiment, he would have pointed to industry, 
economy, and frugality as the natural and ordinary 
means ; but if, from some cause, he should fail in 
this way, he should resort to the extraordinary, or 
supernatural, for God has surely promised these 
necessary things ; and if they do not come in the 
ordinary way, they must come in some extraor- 
dinary manner, or the promise fails. So if James 
had gone into detail, he would have counselled the 
sick to use the common means of cure ; and if they 
failed, he would have directed, as in the prescription, 
to the supernatural ; for surely, " Himself took our 
infirmities, and bore our sicknesses." 

This thought of continuity in sickness is sup- 
ported by the connected counsels and the tenses of 
the verbs used in them. Read them in their tenses 
and this is the verbiage : " Does any among you 
continue afflicted ? let him continue to pray," and 
not give up in despair as some do. " Does any 
continue merry ? let him continue to sing psalms," 



FAITH HEALING. 141 

and not make his happiness "an occasion to the 
flesh," as many do. So also, " Does any among 
you continue sick ? let him call for the elders of 
the church ; " not continue to call, as in the other 
cases, but — aorist tense — call once for all. Thus 
the nature of these several counsels and the tenses 
used go to confirm the explanation here given. 

In closing, we might simply glance at a principle 
which pervades the entire structure of God's moral 
government, and which throws light upon our sub- 
ject. This principle finds its expression in such 
scriptures as these : " We are laborers together 
with God." " Man shall not live by bread alone, 
but by every word that proceedeth out of the 
mouth of God." Bread, or food, is the natural sup- 
port of life, and many never think of depending 
on any other. But God would have His people 
not only use bread, but look to Him and depend 
on Him to bless that bread to their nourishment, 
and, when necessary, if ever, as with Moses and 
others, to support their lives without food. 

So the sick should not depend on medicines 
alone, as they have no power in themselves, but 
they should depend upon God to use them in re- 
moving disease ; and when they fail to cure, look 
to God to heal without medical remedies. What- 
ever God does through agents or secondary causes 
is no less His work than when He does it without 
them, or the effects are as certainly divine when 
we can see God's agents as when we cannot see 
them. 



142 THE NEW NAME. 

From what has been said, several inferences that 
are vital in guiding us in sickness may be drawn. 

1. Our physical ailments are at the disposal of 
our Heavenly Father, and all Christians ought to 
take these ailments to Him for removal or direc- 
tion in treating them; that in so doing many 
would be led to seek and experience remarkable 
deliverance from them, and others would receive 
the gracious answer, "My grace is sufficient for 
thee," and would gladly endure them until their 
mission be accomplished. 

2. Our ailments are sometimes graciously made 
to us special qualifications or enduements of power 
for certain work ; that when such use can be made 
of them, as in the case of Paul's thorn in the flesh, 
their continuance may be better for us and more to 
the divine glory than their immediate removal by 
prayer and faith ; and that when such use ends we 
may expect our Heavenly Father to remove them, 
in answer to prayer, either with or without medical 
remedies, either gradually or instantaneously, as 
He may direct the faith of the afflicted suppliant. 

3. When such healing takes place, the restored 
invalids are not to conclude that it might certainly 
have taken place before had they applied in a 
right way. They are not to suppose that thej^ 
have now a commission to urge, indiscriminately, 
all afflicted believers to expect and claim immediate 
cures ; nor are they to conclude that God would 
be more glorified in such immediate cures than by 



FAITH HEALING. 143 

the discipline which the continuance of the ail- 
ments would give to their subjects, and the good 
which, by divine appointment, they might do 
through them. 

4. As Paul, with his great learning and spiritual 
wisdom, could not discern that his " thorn in the 
flesh" was a special blessing and enduement, until 
specifically taught of God, so let no afflicted 
believer, nor any teacher of divine things, hastily 
conclude that it is most to the glory of God and 
the good of the sufferer to be immediately relieved 
by prayer and faith. " For my thoughts are not 
your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, 
saith the Lord." 

5. Had it been the divine purpose to make heal- 
ing diseases as common and universal as the grant 
of pardon and purity, as contended for by some, 
the " gifts of healing," instead of being conferred 
upon a few "severally as he will," and on them 
only at such times as may please His omniscient 
wisdom, would have been as general and universal 
as the grace to pray for and secure pardon and 
adoption. But the classification of such prayer 
and faith with the charismatic gifts shows that 
healing disease in this way was to be extraordinary 
and occasional, and not common and constant. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

THE TIME FOE, RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. 

TWO theories respecting the times and seasons of 
religious revivals circulate widely among 
Christian people. One is a corollary deducible 
from the Calvinistic theory of Christianity. That 
system holds that God has " freely and unchange- 
ably ordained whatsoever comes to pass ; " and as 
it comes to pass that the churches sometimes have 
revivals and at other times have none, it follows 
that there are set times, or times pre-arranged in 
the divine mind for pouring out the awakening 
spirit upon churches and communities. When these 
foreordained seasons come around, revivals will 
take place, if not of necessity, yet as spontane- 
ities; and in the interum of these times no 
amount of labor and effort can secure them. The 
other theory is an offshoot from the Arminian 
system of theology, and claims that churches may, 
at any time and at all times, have revivals when 
the conditions are met, and that these conditions 
are always practicable by the grace of God, which 
is constantly tendered; and in support of this 
theory the present chapter is written. 



THE TIME FOR RELIGIOUS REVIVALS, 145 

Though the former theory is properly Calvinis- 
tic, yet Christian workers professing the Arminian 
faith practically embrace it in their movements 
and work. It is not uncommon to hear such 
persons saj^, " We will watch the indications, and if 
we see any signs of the Spirit's awakening work 
we will commence revival services there, or con- 
tinue them at another place," as the case may be. 
This kind of talk and movement supposes set 
times to favor Zion, and the watchful pastor must 
be on the lookout for the arrival of these seasons, 
which will be indicated by an unusual spirit of 
prayer and work among God's people, by a grow- 
ing interest among the unconverted in religious 
matters, by special ease and freedom in pulpit and 
other religious labor, and by all other well known 
indications of the presence of the revival spirit. 
These Christian workers of the Arminian faith 
support their Calvinistic view of this subject by 
reasons which are convincing to them, and which 
they suppose are just and true analogies of 
nature and facts of revival history. 

In the natural world, they say, we have alternate 
day and night, summer and winter, and wet sea- 
sons and dry seasons, and we must expect some- 
thing analogous to this in the realm of spirit. 
The churches, it is contended, must have their 
days and nights, their summers and winters, and 
their wet seasons and dry seasons. But this analogy 
is lame and misleading without the introduction of 



146 THE NEW NAME. 

another element into it. This assumes that the 
wants of the churches are like those of the physical 
world, which is not the case. To see the lameness 
of the analogy, let us inquire when, in the natural 
world, do we have these successions of day and 
night, summer and winter, and so on; and the 
answer is, when the particular latitude in which 
they occur, and the constitution of things in gen- 
eral, demand them. True sometimes we have 
winter and wet, when we think we ought to have 
warm and dry, weather, but we think so because 
we cannot take in all the interests involved in the 
case. Now to give the analogy its true logical 
force, we must inquire when the churches and 
communities need the outpouring of the Spirit; 
and the answer must be, all the time. Spiritually 
minded people need the Holy Spirit as continu- 
ously as they need the air which they breathe ; and 
sinners are dying daily, and need revival influence 
all the time. So far, therefore, as this analogy 
may be used, it supports the notion of a continuous 
outpouring of the Spirit. 

As to the facts of revival history, it is claimed 
that a pastor and his people labor sometimes for 
weeks, and even months, and there is visibly 
nothing accomplished; while at other times the 
Spirit is poured upon churches and communities 
in remarkable awakenings and conversions when 
neither the preacher nor membership have been 
laboring for it. They are surprised at the revival 



THE TIME FOR RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. 147 

as much as others, and with the ease with which it 
is carried along, and can account for these facts on 
no other principle than the time had come to favor 
Zion, and she was favored. 

To these facts it may be answered, that a great 
deal of labor and effort can be made by a church 
which is at the same time in wrong moral relations, 
and unable to exert any power with God or man. 
Of course failure must follow such efforts, no 
matter how zealously put forth and how long pro- 
tracted, unless there should enter some other ele- 
ment of success. And when revivals have taken 
place without any adequate effort upon the part of 
the preacher or membership, in some cases, close 
inquiry at the time, and in other cases, inquiry in 
after years, has revealed the facts that some soul 
or souls agonized for these results, though known 
at the time to none but God and the suppliant 
himself. The history of revivals has some re- 
markable records relating to this part of the sub- 
ject. 

But does not the Psalmist pray, " Thou shalt 
arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time 
to favor her, yea, the set time, is come ; " and 
does this not imply a specially fixed season when 
the Lord will favor his church? Commentators 
universally agree, for they can do nothing else 
in this case, that this was an inspired prayer 
of some devout Babylonish exile, and was typical 
of the prayers of all the pious captives at that 



148 THE NEW NAME. 

time, which was near the close of their seventy- 
years exile, and the set time mentioned in the 
prayer had exclusive reference to the close of that 
captivity, and no allusion whatever to the matter 
now in hand. If, however, any insist on applying 
it to God's time to favor His Church, let them 
observe that the set time "is come," is present 
now. And it may be admitted that God has such 
a set time as this to favor Zion : a continuous 
present. " Behold, now is the accepted time ; be- 
hold, now is the day of salvation." 

But what, after all, does the Bible teach upon 
this subject? To this it may be answered, in 
general terms, that there is not a precept or ex- 
ample, either in the Old or New Testaments, bear- 
ing directly or indirectly upon the theme in ques- 
tion, that favors the "set time" theory of revivals; 
but all clearly favor the idea of a continuous pres- 
ent time. To see the justness and force of this 
statement, let us start the question : When should 
suppliants look for answers to their prayers for 
personal pardon, or the awakening and conversion 
of families and neighbors ? Now there is not a pass- 
age in the Scriptures that, by any fair construction, 
can be made to teach that prayers may be offered 
to-day, but answers must be delayed for future 
weeks and months. That such delays take place 
there is no doubt; but the delay is caused by a 
failure of the worshippers to meet the condition of 
present grace, and not for the arrival of a suitable 



TEE TIME FOR RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. 149 

or set time for the answers. The divine precept 
to God's ancient people was, "And ye shall seek 
me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with 
all your heart." This passage teaches believers 
not only to expect an answer when they seek 
with all the he*rt, but teaches them that they 
shall receive when this takes place, be that when 
it may, set time or no set time. The passage 
assumes that, by the grace always given, believers 
may ask with all their heart any day for personal 
salvation, and for the salvation of others, or any 
day may ask for a revival of religion with all the 
heart, and witness any day the salvation of God. 
Take a precept from the New Testament, and 
from the great Teacher Himself, and the same 
truths appear. "What things soever ye desire, 
when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye 
shall have them." The Saviour orders here, by 
the present tenses of these verbs, to believe we are 
receiving while we are praying and believing, and 
not look to any future period for the answers. 
Now one of the "what things soever ye desire" 
among good people is the revival of the work of 
God, or the prosperity of His cause ; and for this 
they will pray daily. And praying for this, the 
Saviour commands them to believe that they do 
now receive. But if they allow the notion that this 
may not be the set time for revival to possess the 
mind, it would be impossible to obey the Saviour 
and believe that they do now receive. To allow, 



150 THE NEW NAME! 

therefore, the Calvinistic notion on this subject, is, 
by the very laws of mind, to inflict a self-disabling 
act upon ourselves, that precludes the possibility of 
obeying Christ upon this subject. 

What has just been said of all those precepts of 
the gospel which insist upon a present faith for a 
present blessing, may be said, with the same empha- 
sis, of those precepts which teach importunity and 
earnestness in prayer. They are all at variance 
with the "set time" notion of revivals. These 
precepts teach us to agonize in prayer, to strive in 
prayer, to strive together in prayer; and the 
Saviour, with His beautiful parables of the unjust 
judge and widow, and of the friend who went at 
midnight for three loaves to place before his guest, 
teaches us the necessity of being importunate in 
prayer. His lesson is, if we fail upon a first appli- 
cation, make a second ; and if we fail in the second, 
make a third; and so continue until we succeed. 
This assumes that success is absolutely certain, if 
the case be pressed with suitable importunity ; and 
if absolutely certain, the idea of a "set time," 
meaning by it some time in the future, must be 
abandoned. 

Now anyone can see that, in the very philosophy 
of the human mind, the idea that this may not be 
the divinely "set time" for pouring out the Spirit 
of awakening and conversion, must end all striving 
and importunity in prayer. And, as a matter of fact, 
those who have embraced the "set time" idea of 



THE TIME FOR RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. 151 

revivals do not pray with any persistency; but, 
instead of wrestling in prayer for results, they 
watch for signs and indications of gracious visita- 
tions, and see none. Thus they mourn the sad 
condition of the churches and communities, never 
suspecting that they themselves are directly in the 
way of the Lord's work. " An evil and adulterous 
generation seeketh after a sign." 

Germane to the same point are all those precepts 
and doctrinal statements that direct us to the 
promises of God as a reliable basis of faith, and not 
to providential indications or signs of any kind. 
To speak of watching indications to determine 
whether to commence revival work at a certain 
place, or continue at another, is to indulge unbelief, 
and transfer the foundation of our faith from God's 
Word to signs and indications ; or, which is the same 
thing, to abandon evangelical faith altogether, and 
accept in its stead a natural faith, which is not 
saving, and which any skeptic may exercise. 
When a church is stirred to activity, and tears of 
penitence are seen among worldlings, any skeptic 
can believe that there is a religious revival on 
hand. This is natural faith, but not saving; 
nor can God honor it as evangelical, or faith in 
His promises alone, and hence it must signally 
fail. 

A pastor and his official brethren conclude to 
inaugurate revival services in their church because 
of so many favorable indications. The class meet- 



152 THE NEW NAME. 

ings and prayer services are unusually well 
attended and interesting ; the regular Sunday con- 
gregations are unusually large ; quite a number of 
the world's people have of late been noticed at 
church, and other encouraging signs of a coming 
revival are clearly noticeable. Announcements are 
accordingly made, and work commences ; but 
these favorable indications gradually become less 
numerous and promising, and soon disappear alto- 
gether. The brethren are surprised, disappointed, 
and wonder why it is, and close the exercises without 
any hope of seeing a revival at this time, not sus- 
pecting that they are just at the point of victory if 
they continue. They are now where, if they con- 
tinue, they must look away from "things which 
are seen" to "things which are not seen;" from 
signs and indications, to God's immutable promise, 
"Behold, now is the day of salvation." This 
change in the basis of their faith would put their 
work into harmony with God, and produce the 
desired results ; God could honor such faith, and 
show them His salvation. Let the reader pause 
here long enough to take in the magnitude of the 
mistake, the frequency with which it has taken 
place, and the incalculable loss which the church 
has sustained by it, when leaders of religious work 
abandon the field of conflict just at the moment 
when everything was ready for thetinauguration of 
a grand victory. Natural faith has failed by the 
disappearance of visible tokens upon which it must 



THE TIME FOR RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. 153 

rest, thus making way for true evangelical faith, 
which " the promise sees, and looks to that alone ; " 
and all embarrassments to its exercise now out of 
the way, a little patient waiting and trusting would 
have witnessed the victory. 

We come now to notice, in closing, that the 
examples of prevailing prayer which the Scriptures 
record, like the precepts which have been examined, 
show no favor to the " set time " theory of revivals, 
but rebuke all this watching for tokens and mani- 
festations as a basis of faith. It will be discovered, 
in this examination of the subject, that so far from 
gathering encouragement from omens and signs, 
no attention was paid to them, unless it was to 
increase the ardor and importunity of the prayers 
as opposing symptoms and indications multiplied 
around the suppliants. It will also be discovered 
that the greater the discouragements from these 
outward and visible sources, the more marvellous 
and triumphant the answers to persistent and 
unyielding prayer. 

Take, as an example from the Old Testament 
history, the prayer of Moses for the children of 
Israel after their lapse into idolatry by the forma- 
tion and worship of the golden calf. When the 
Lord apprised Moses of the defection of the people, 
he felt they needed a genuine revival of religion 
among them, and commenced to pray for it. But 
the Lord checked him by the positive order, "Now 
therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax 



154 THE NEW NAME. 

hot against them, and that I may consume them: 
and I will make of thee a great nation." Here 
was the highest authority in the universe for 
desisting from prayer for a cold and backslidden 
church, and to commence watching for signs and 
indications of a set time to favor Zion. But 
Moses seems to have paid no attention to this 
order and what, to human views, seems to be a 
bribe to have it executed, but proceeds to press 
his prayer for the salvation of these idolaters. 
And so well pleased was God with the course of 
Moses, and so powerfully was He moved by his 
prayer, that it is recorded, " The Lord repented of 
the evil which he thought to do unto his people." 
God represents Himself as unable to bear the 
appeal which Moses made to Him through the 
memory of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So if our 
pastors, and the faithful few who co-operate with 
them, would pay no attention to omens, would 
cease looking for indications of revival power, 
and would go to calling upon God as Moses did, 
" Remember our Wesleys, Carvossoes, and Bram- 
wells, or our Asburies, Heddings, and Hamlines, to 
whom Thou swearest," etc., in spite of threatening 
worldliness and formalism, the country would soon 
be in a blaze of revival. 

But we must select an instance of prevailing 
prayer from the New Testament, and note the 
amount of favor it loans to the notion of watching 
tokens and providential pointers. In the fifteenth 



THE TIME FOR RELIGIOUS REVIVALS. 155 

chapter of Matthew we have an account of a suc- 
cessful prayer of a woman of Canaan, offered in 
behalf of an afflicted daughter. Let the reader 
turn to that chapter and refresh his memory on 
this record, and notice carefully the different re- 
pulses with which this suppliant met in her suit, 
and the utter absence of all encouraging circum- 
stances. Everything was against her, and pointed 
to certain failure; even the divine polity of the 
Saviour's mission at that time. Nothing favored 
the woman and gave any hope of success except 
the naked and unmerited mercy of God. This 
she pleaded, and became master of the situation, 
having the whole field to herself, and the Saviour 
crying out, " O woman, great is thy faith : be it 
unto thee even as thou wilt ; " have it your own 
way. 

Now it would seem that no Christian worker 
can read the account of these remarkable yet simple 
prayers which were so eminently successful with 
all the omens and indications against them, and 
ever after have the religious effrontery to talk 
about u set times to favor Zion," and watching the 
signs and intimations of their approach. Rather 
it would seem that he must ever hereafter allow 
that now is God's time to pardon, revive, regen- 
erate, and save all that will come unto Him in a 
scriptural manner; and that a failure to obtain 
salvation now is just as impossible, if truly sought, 
as that God should lie. 



156 THE NEW NAME. 

In view of the facts brought to view in this 
chapter, every pastor, with the loyal ones at his 
side, ought to feel absolutely certain of success in 
revival work, upon the condition of perseverance 
in line with God, though no bow of promise is 
seen to span the heavens, and though every token 
and indication points to failure. God's unchang- 
ing and unchangeable promise of " Behold, now is 
the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salva- 
tion," must have its fulfilment in the case of every 
suppliant who persistently claims it. It is, and 
must forever be, true that, "Ye shall seek me 
and find me, when ye shall search for me with all 
your heart." 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE PRIMARY PURSUIT. 

" DUT seek ye first the kingdom of God and his 
*-J righteousness ; and all these things shall be 
added unto you" (Matt. 6 : 33). 

This Scripture may be called a divine recipe for 
securing with absolute certainty the necessaries of 
this life. The order of procedure is to seek first 
the soul's interest, and then what is necessary for 
the body. These words reveal the divinely estab- 
lished relationship between the spiritual and tem- 
poral interests of man, and direct him to the proper 
course to secure the interests of both worlds. 

The passage forbids all worry concerning tem- 
poralities, but not, as some suppose, all care and 
attention. — To seek first the kingdom of God 
implies the thought of seeking secondly the things 
of which the body has need. " Take no thought " 
is rendered correctly in the Revised Version, " Be 
not anxious." The birds and lilies alluded to by 
the Saviour use the limited powers with which 
they are endowed, in obtaining their nourishment. 
The lily opens its petals and spreads its leaves to 



\ 



158 THE NEW NAME. 

the dews, rains, and sunshine ; while the bird 
leaves its roost early, before the insects, that come 
out of their hiding-places at night, return in the 
morning. " The early bird catches the worm." 

The Saviour does not, therefore, forbid the care- 
ful housewife to take forethought as to what she 
shall prepare for each meal, nor the provident 
householder from proper consideration of how 
many acres he shall plant and sow, and how much 
provision he shall store in his cellar to carry his 
family through the winter. Not to do this is to 
" deny the faith, and to be worse than an infidel." 
What the Saviour does forbid is making these 
matters primary objects of thought, and giving 
inordinate attention to them. 

It is an infidel slander that the " Sermon on the 
Mount " is a thriftless document, and directs to a 
course that would turn civilized nations back to 
barbarism. So far from the rule laid down drying 
up the industries and enterprises of a country, it 
directs to such a divine adjustment of them to the 
established order of things, as would give them 
such a stimulus as nothing else could. 

If all capitalists heading the great industries of 
the country would " seek first the kingdom of God 
and his righteousness," they would gladly pay all 
operatives the full value of their labors, and do it 
promptly. And if all laborers would seek first 
their spiritual interests, they would desire no more 
than their services are worth ; and abandoning all 



THE PRIMARY PURSUIT. 159 

drinking-saloons and other places of vice and 
prodigality, and observing habits of industry and 
economy, they would soon become stockholders 
themselves in the enterprises, or, at least, would 
acquire comfortable homes, and live in content- 
ment and domestic happiness. Such a state of 
things as would necessarily follow the observance 
of this divine order of interests would quickly 
solve all the problems arising out of the relation 
between labor and capital, would put an end to all 
strikes, and prevent forever all business convul- 
sions. Sad it is that men and nations are blind to 
these great and fundamental principles. 

The passage promises that all needed temporal good 
shall follow " seeking first the kingdom of God and 
his righteousness" — Dr. Clark quotes a quaint old 
writer as saying that devotion to God shall have 
the good things of this life thrown in, as the thread 
and wrapping paper are when an article is pur- 
chased in the store. 

This illustration conveys the exact thought, by 
remembering that the merchant puts profit enough 
upon the goods to justify these gifts. So the Lord 
includes in " seeking the kingdom of God and his 
righteousness," the moral virtues upon which he 
is justified in granting material wealth. Industry, 
frugality, and economy, the principles that under- 
lie temporal prosperity, are essential elements of 
divine righteousness. To expect, therefore, to be 
fed and clothed by a constant reading of the Bible 



160 THE NEW NAME. 

and closet devotions, without any attention to sec- 
ular wants, is to expect what is not here promised ; 
and those who have attempted to live by faith in 
this unscriptural sense have come to want. 

It seems, however, that now and then God calls 
persons to give all their time to some particular 
work without even a secondary care for temporal- 
ities ; and while they continue active and loyal in 
that work, He moves others to furnish the neces- 
sary supplies. But even in these cases, inattention 
to secular needs is more seeming than real ; and 
when real, must be regarded as sporadic, and out- 
side the general law. Like the patron, therefore, 
who pays for the thread and wrapping paper which 
are said to be thrown in, so believers, in seeking 
the kingdom of God and His righteousness, pay for 
the food and raiment which are said to be added; 
that is, they meet the condition upon which these 
things are promised and conferred. 

The passage calls attention to the first great pur- 
suit of life. — " But seek ye first the kingdom of 
God, and his righteousness." To seek the kingdom 
of God is to seek the reign of grace in the heart 
and outer life. This involves the thought that 
man in his unrenewed state belongs to another 
kingdom, and is under the reign of another king. 
Hence the Scriptures represent him as ensnared 
by satan, as having been taken captive by him, 
and placed under the domination of the appetites, 
senses, and instincts of the animal man, and under 



THE PRIMARY PURSUIT. 161 

the passions, propensities, and disposition of the 
rational, but fallen, soul. He is therefore called 
to alienate himself, by divine help, from these 
subalterns of Satan, and give allegiance to the 
Great King. He should hear and obey the call, 
"Come out from among them, and be ye separ- 
ate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean 
thing; and I will receive you, and will be a 
Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and 
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." In obeying 
this order, penitents become fellow-citizens with 
the saints and members of the divine household, 
and are placed where they can seek and find, by 
following the inspired directions, the rich grace of 
the kingdom into which they have entered. 

Having obtained the reign of grace in the heart 
and life, believers are next to seek divine right- 
eousness, called in the text, "his righteousness," 
the righteousness of God. This is more than 
citizenship in the kingdom of grace and sonship 
in the divine family ; it is likeness to God. It is 
more than a place in the kingdom ; it is the kingdom 
set up and established in the heart; it is God's 
purity, God's holiness, God's gentleness and long- 
suffering, brought in and imparted by the continued 
indwelling Holy Spirit. 

Many a foreigner comes to this country and 
becomes naturalized, and makes this land his home, 
who, nevertheless, does not become Americanized. 
He never has anything good to say of the laws and 



162 THE NEW NAME. 

institutions of his adopted country, but abundance 
of praise is lavished upon the government of the 
old country and fatherland. He has never taken 
in the genius of American institutions and become 
fully reconciled to American ideas and customs. 

So many come into the kingdom of grace by 
regeneration who do not " follow on to know the 
Lord," and hence fail to become thoroughly 
spiritualized. They have few words of praise and 
commendation for the Church and the institutions 
of Christianity, but much to say favorable to the 
pleasures, the honors, and the riches of the world. 
They do not become fully alienated from these 
things and completely attached to Christ and His 
cause. They do not " groan" after holiness, nor 
are they " expecting to be made perfect in love in 
this life." They do not seek " his righteousness " 
after they enter the kingdom of grace. This 
neglect is a sad failure in obeying the Saviour's 
order, and must meet with terrible disaster in the 
end. 

In view of this command of Christ and the ne- 
cessity of strict obedience to Him, it is truly ap- 
palling that of the thousands of religious teachers 
occupying the pulpits of Christendom, only here 
and there one is found who presses the need of " his 
righteousness," or likeness to God. The others, the 
great mass, so far from insisting on this, hoot the 
idea of being holy as God is holy, and teach their 
flocks that there is no escape from the carnal mind 



THE PRIMARY PURSUIT. 163 

this side of the dying hour. Of course those who 
believe such teaching will make no effort for the 
righteousness of God in this life, though the 
Saviour presents it as a primary object of pursuit, 
because paramount to every other and all other 
attainable good. 

Such is the great pursuit of life, and should be 
attended to first in the order of time and first in 
purpose and zeal, and, as the* Greek tense indi- 
cates, continuously during probationary life. For 
though the kingdom is entered fully and at once, 
by a definite act of faith, yet its riches are reached 
by continuous seeking, and God's righteousness 
has depths that can never be fully sounded. 
Hence all believers, whatever may be the gracious 
stage reached, should u forget those things which 
are behind, and reach forth to those things which 
are before, and press toward the mark for the 
prize." 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE BELIEVER'S SECURITY. 

" LJE hath said, I will never leave thee, nor for- 

1 [ sake thee. So that we may boldly say, The 
Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man 
shall do unto me " (Heb. 13 : 5, 6). 

This is a very precious promise. It is frequently 
met with, in some form or other, in the Old and 
New Scriptures. One of its most beautiful forms 
is that in which it was given to Moses: "My 
presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee 
rest." The apostle gives it in the form of the 
text, " I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee," 
and applies it to every individual of the body of 
believers, as well as to the leaders of God's people. 
Notice — 

god's protecting presence. 

The promise assumes — 

The divine omnipresence. — He who can be 
present with all believers at all times and all 
places must be omnipresent. David had this won- 
derful fact before him when he asked the questions, 
" Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither 
shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up 



THE BELIEVER'S SECURITY. 165 

into heaven, thou art there : if I make my bed in 
hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings 
of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts 
of the sea ; even there shall thy hand lead me, and 
thy right hand shall hold me." This presence 
cannot be interrupted by any agency, and it ought 
not to escape the thoughts of Christians for a 
single moment. The promise also assumes that — 

This presence is a governing power. — Every 
thing is under law. From the tiniest atom to the 
mightiest globe in the physical universe ; from the 
feeblest instinct to the loftiest intelligence in the 
world of mind ; all, all, are under law. But law 
without an executive is nothing, and God must be 
the executive of all natural law, and must be pres- 
ent in the execution. What we call law, therefore, 
is nothing more nor less than the divine method of 
procedure in the world of matter and of mind. 
Hence the Scriptures know of no second causes in 
the production of natural phenomenon. As a sam- 
ple of what is to be met with in the Sacred Oracles, 
read the following from the 65th Psalm : " Thou 
visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly 
enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of 
water : thou preparest them corn, when thou hast 
so provided for it. Thou waterest the ridges thereof 
abundantly : thou settlest the furrows thereof : 
thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest 
the springing thereof." 

In this revelation a rain is called a visit of God. 



166 THE NEW NAME. 

The great system of evaporation and condensation 
by which the earth is watered is called the river of 
God. He is represented as providing corn when 
He has prepared the earth for it. He waters and 
settles the furrows of the plowed sod, and causes 
the grain to grow. He does all these things. 

" He doth according to his will in the army of 
heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth." 
" He removeth kings, and setteth up kings." " He 
putteth down one and setteth up another." We 
are apt to suppose that our political parties do all 
these things, but inspiration tells us that God does 
them. Of course He uses these parties to bring about 
such results as He sees best in view of the civil 
condition of the state or nation. 

With regard to this reigning presence of the 
Almighty, the Saviour said, " Are not two sparrows 
sold for a farthing ? and one of them shall not fall 
on the ground without your Father." This is fre- 
quently quoted, "without the notice of your 
Father ; " but this is not the reading, nor does it 
give the meaning of the inspired text. The correct 
reading makes our Father present, either causa- 
tively or permissively, in the fall of the sparrow. 
He brings it to the ground Himself, having accom- 
plished His purpose in its life, or He permits the 
wanton sportsman, or some other destructive agent, 
to end its days. The promise assumes next that — 

This presence directs all events to the highest 
good of the creatures^ especially the saints. — Be- 



THE BELIEVER'S SECURITY. 167 

lievers can see, for the most part, that their parent- 
age, their nativity, their early training, and the 
various providences that make up the divine deal- 
ings with them in their youth and later years, have 
all conspired for their good. There are a few dis- 
pensations, however, in every person's life, which 
carnal reason cannot number with the favorable 
providences. The patriarch Jacob could not see 
that the loss of Joseph, the detention of Simeon as 
hostage for the arrival of Benjamin, and the depart- 
ure of the child of his old age were working for 
his good. He said, " All these things are against 
me." And to limited human vision they did 
appear so; yet, as the sequel proved, they were 
working for the good of the patriarchal family. 
God was over-ruling all things, even the wicked- 
ness of the envious brothers in selling Joseph to 
the Ishmaelite traders, and over-ruling all in the 
supreme interests of His servant. 

Joseph understood the benevolent designs of 
God before they were revealed to his father Jacob 
in the actual facts of history. When he was made 
known unto his brethren he said to them, " Now 
therefore be not grieved, nor angry with your- 
selves, that ye sold me hither : for God did send 
me before you to preserve life . . . and to save your 
lives by a great deliverance." Joseph did not in- 
tend, in this tender and softening language, to 
exculpate his brethren from all guilt in the trans- 
action, for in another and later interview with 



168 THE NEW NAME. 

them he said, "But as for you, ye thought evil 
against me ; but God meant it unto good, to bring 
to pass, as it is this day, to save much people 
alive." 

The view which Joseph took of these events is 
the only true and scriptural view, and the one 
which every person must take of all the events of 
his history, both pleasurable and painful, if he would 
come into complete rest amidst the ever changing 
phases and conditions of terrestrial life. Notice 
next — 

OUR REALIZATION OF THE DIVINE PROTECTION. 

The text assumes that God's protecting care 
may be — 

A fact of experience. — It is one thing to have a 
tenet in our creed books, and another to have it 
written in our hearts. It is one thing to affirm 
faith in some inspired statement, and a very dif- 
ferent thing to know it as a heart experience. To 
declare a belief that " all things work together for 
good to them that love God," is one thing, and it 
is quite another to feel and enjoy the fact under 
painful sickness, bereavement, and loss. The 
Divine Presence with us, governing all events 
and shaping all occurrences for the highest good 
of His creatures, must not only be an article of our 
creeds, but a fact of our experiences. It must 
become a part of our spiritual intuitions, and inter- 
woven into the warp and woof of our moral senti- 
ments and being. 



THE BELIEVER'S SECURITY. 169 

As u no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but 
by the Holy Ghost," so no man can truly say, " All 
things work together for good to them that love 
God" but by the Holy Ghost. Our domestic con- 
dition, our business state, and our social relations, 
receive their complexion so largely from the faults, 
failures, and vices of others, that the natural mind 
cannot discern the divine hand in shaping our 
environments. Hence the Holy Spirit must come 
into us, eliminating all unbelief, quickening our 
spiritual perceptions, and teaching us the things of 
God, so that we can say with Job, in all losses of 
property and bereavement of friends, " The Lord 
gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be 
the name of the Lord." 

Many good people say they can bear all the 
Lord imposes upon them, but they cannot endure 
the wrongs inflicted upon them by wicked people ; 
but until we can see God, either causatively or 
permissively, in all our losses as well as our gains, 
in our adversity as well as our prosperity, in our 
sickness as well as our health, and in the wrongs 
inflicted by enemies as well as favors conferred by 
friends, we cannot be completely at rest. Hence 
we must be taught of the Spirit, and through His 
teaching come into a state of — 

Fearless security. — " So that we may boldly 
say, ... I will not fear what man shall do unto 
me." It is not understood that this experience sup- 
erinduces carelessness, but, on the contrary, leads 



170 THE NEW NAME. 

to caution in protecting person and property to the 
full extent of human ability. The Spirit teaches 
the believer to do all he can for himself, and not 
to expect divine help until this be done. But hav- 
ing done all he can to guard against the loss of 
property, against sickness and bereavement, against 
the abuse and wrongs of the wicked, and against 
every other evil from every other quarter, the 
believer, under the full illumination of the Spirit, 
fears neither the tongue of slander or the fist of 
wickedness, neither the reverses and wrongs of 
earth nor the rage and malice of hell. He feels 
secure. 

Shall he not fear the drinking saloon across the 
street, which is enticing and endangering his sons ? 
Let him keep filled with the Spirit, and exhibit to 
those sons the beauty and desirableness of holiness ; 
let him tenderly warn those sons of their danger ; 
let him talk to God secretly about their peril ; and 
let him lovingly do what he can, by ballot and 
otherwise, to remove the nuisance, and he need 
not fear what man or devils shall do to his sons. 
Such is the meaning of the inspired text. It is 
not promised here, however, that the righteous shall 
not suffer, but that no substantial harm shall befall 
them. " Who is he that will harm you, if ye be 
followers of that which is good? But and if ye 
suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye." 

The text assumes, moreover, that this experi- 
ence — 



THE BELIEVER'S SECURITY. 171 

May be boldly declared. — " So that we may 
boldly say, the Lord is my helper." " Declare his 
doings among the people " is an order as natural 
as it is scriptural. There are so many burdened 
souls among us, fearing wrongs and losses, wearied 
with the cares and disappointments of life, and 
who know no better way, that every consideration 
of humanity demands of those who have found an 
Almighty Helper to declare the glad news to their 
brethren. And so clear and definite should be the 
experience that, with no mealy-mouth nor hesitating 
tongue, but with humble boldness and unqualified 
terms, the welcome intelligence may be spread 
abroad. 

To declare boldly the help received from the 
Great Helper, or the spiritual healing received 
from the Great Physician, is as proper, is as neces- 
sary for the good of those who need the same, is 
as far from personal boasting, and is as much duty, 
as to declare to our suffering fellows, from our own 
experience, where they may find temporal help and 
healing. Indeed, it is as mucli more duty and pro- 
priety, as spiritual interests surpass in importance 
the temporal and physical. Why there should, 
therefore, be an effort to suppress testimony upon 
this most important matter can only be accounted 
for by the dreadful aversion of all carnal principle 
to God and His cause. Nothing so enrages satan, 
and is so damaging to his cause, as a clear experi- 
ence in the truth of the text, sending out a ringing 



172 THE NEW NAME. 

testimony, " The Lord is my helper, and I will not 
fear what man shall do unto me." 

Reader, have yon the requisite experience to 
adopt the language of the text ? If not, hear the 
divine direction how to receive it : " The Lord is 
with you, while ye be with him ; and if ye seek 
him, he will be found of you ; but if ye forsake 
him, he will forsake you." " Draw nigh to God, 
and he will draw nigh to you." 



CHAPTER XX. 
THE TWIN FAVORS. 

TT^OR unto you it is given in the behalf of 

1* Christ, not only to believe on him, but also 
to suffer for his sake " (Phil. 1 : 29). 

All good conies to mankind through Jesus 
Christ. Through His merits and intercessions 
there come to the race, being, preservation, do- 
mestic comfort, social well-being, civil blessings, 
Christian privileges, and all other desirable things. 
From all the favors which divine grace confers, the 
text selects for study two special grants that have 
been given to God's dear children. 

1. " To believe on Christ" — Let it be noted that 
it is not said, " Unto you is given belief" but, " Unto 
you it is given to believe" This wording intimates 
that the act of believing is the creature's, while 
the power to put forth such an act is a favor gra- 
ciously conferred for Christ's sake. Hence every 
thing necessary for such an act of faith is involved 
in the grant under consideration, and must include 
all necessary evidence. He who gave the human 
mind its structure, defers to its demands, and fur- 
nishes to every man all the evidence necessary 



174 THE NEW NAME. 

to convince him that Jesus is the Christ. The 
great array of miracles performed, the long list of 
prophecies fulfilled, the abounding proofs from 
internal and collateral sources, and the endless 
roll of witnesses, extending from the earliest times 
to this day, form a mass of evidence that no other 
fact or principle or system in the world can pro- 
duce. As in everything else, so in the furnishing 
of evidence to the truth of Christianity the grace 
of God superabounds ; and no lost soul will ever 
plead a want of evidence as the cause of his 
unbelief. 

This grant must include also the ability to 
investigate the evidence. It is not necessary that 
every mind investigate and comprehend all classes 
and kinds of proofs furnished, but only such as 
may be necessary to produce conviction in the 
individual case. The more abstruse and profound 
evidence afforded by divine favor to meet the 
demand of abstract thought and great brains, may 
be wholly passed over by the ordinary mind, 
because unnecessary to produce conviction in such 
a mind. All that is claimed for the favor under 
consideration, so far as ability to weigh the evi- 
dence is concerned, is that each one be sufficiently 
empowered to understand and feel the force of 
such proof as may be necessary to satisfy him of 
the truth of the Christian system. This claim 
cannot be denied. As a fact of experience and 
observation, God has furnished to every class of 



THE TWIN FAVORS. 175 

mind, and to every mode of thought, from the 
highest to the lowest, all that is necessary in proof, 
and all that is necessary in gracious help, to 
awaken and support such a measure of evangelical 
faith as shall result in a present, full, and continu- 
ous salvation from all sin, outward and inward. 

The text reads, " Unto you it is given to believe." 
The present tense is used, and declares the evi- 
dence already present ; an insight into its force, so 
far as is requisite for faith, is already given ; and 
there is no reason to delay the acceptance of 
Christ, and consequent enjoyment of personal 
salvation. It therefore poorly conforms with this 
inspired statement for true Christians to be pray- 
ing for faith instead of exercising what they have, 
or putting forth an act which the text affirms they 
are able to do. Infinitely better would it be for 
Christians themselves, for the Church which they 
form, and for the world which they are to bring to 
Christ, if, instead of always seeking for faith and 
never getting it, they would accept the statement 
of the text, and, in the spirit of self-surrender, 
claim the endowment, and proceed to work for the 
elevation of the piety of the Church and the sal- 
vation of the race. Let us now look at the other 
special favor granted to true believers. 

2. " To suffer for Ms sake." — Under the pres- 
ent constitution of things and moral condition of 
the world, suffering in some form seems to be a 
necessary associate of faith in Jesus Christ. Under 



176 THE NEW NAME. 

the old dispensation it could be said, " Many are 
the afflictions of the righteous : but the Lord 
delivereth him out of them all." Under the new 
it has been declared, " Whom the Lord loveth he 
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he 
receiveth." " Yea, and all that will live godly in 
Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Many 
other passages, both in the Old and the New 
Testament, teach the same lesson. 

In this sin-ruined world there are certain forms 
of suffering common to all persons, both saints 
and sinners; they fall upon the race irrespective 
of moral character. Among these may be named, 
loss of property, death of friends and loved ones, 
failure in health of body and mind, and other 
common afflictions. These do not constitute the 
suffering mentioned in the text, only so far as they 
may come upon the righteous through their loyalty 
to Christ and His cause. And it not unfrequently 
happens that this loyalty subjects Christians to 
temporal losses, alienation of loved ones, and pain- 
ful crosses in other respects ; and when so entailed, 
they are sufferings for righteousness' sake, and are 
embraced among the sufferings referred to in the 
text. 

The apostle brings out the nature of this suffer- 
ing more clearly when he says, " Yea, and all that 
will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecu- 
tion." It is persecution for righteousness' sake to 
which particular allusion is made. The " will live 



THE TWIN FAVORS 177 

godly" of the apostle must rebuke worldlings and 
condemn formalists, must run against the notions 
of some religionists and disturb the quiet of 
others, and will bring on the " shall suffer " of the 
apostle's statement. The piety that slips through 
the world and awakens no opposition, may well be 
suspected as not having its origin in Him who 
" came not to send peace, but a sword." 

But while suffering is a necessary associate of 
true religious fidelity in the present moral state of 
the world, it is also represented as a special divine 
favor to the saints. "Unto you it is given ... to 
suffer for his sake." The Greek word rendered 
" it is given," means " to gratify," " to bestow in 
kindness," " to grant as a free favor," and conveys 
the thought of something peculiarly desirable. 
Various reasons are given in the Scriptures for 
this view of suffering for Christ's sake. It is 
viewed as one of the marks of true sonship, and 
necessary to distinguish from spiritual bastardy. 
" If ye be without chastisement, whereof all are 
partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons." It 
is one of God's methods of saying to believers, " I 
am thy God, and thou art my child." 

The suffering for Christ's sake is also spoken of 
as a pledge of the heavenly glory to follow hereafter, 
and a line of measurement by which the saint can 
determine in this life something of its exceeding 
greatness. Hence the Saviour says to His perse- 
cuted and suffering people, " Rejoice, and be ex- 



178 THE NEW NAME. 

ceeding glad : for great is your reward in heaven." 
And Peter says, " Rejoice, inasmuch as ye are 
partakers of Christ's sufferings ; that, when his 
glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with 
exceeding joy." 

It is intimated also that this suffering marks the 
worthiness of the sufferers and the measure of con- 
fidence God places in them. The apostles evi- 
dently entertained this view when they " departed 
from the presence of the council, rejoicing that 
they were counted worthy to suffer shame for 
his name." And it would seem, from inspired 
teaching, as well as from experience, that our 
Heavenly Father does not place sufficient con- 
fidence in his weak children to entrust to them 
such service as brings this suffering upon them. 
This honor is conferred upon his strong ones ; and 
none may expect the honor of " fiery trials " unless 
he be worthy, and live so near his Lord as to be 
able to bear them. They may expect, like the man 
after God's own heart, to have gracious trials from 
their "equals," their " guides," from those who 
"give them sweet counsel," and from those who 
walk with them to the house of God. They may 
be honored by the cognizance of church councils, 
by ecclesiastical rebukes, by ostracisms, and ex- 
communications. "For unto you it is given in 
the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, 
but also to suffer for his sake." 



CHAPTEE XXI. 
faith: its manner and scope. 

"AS thou hast believed, so be it done unto 

& thee" (Matt. 8: 13). 
A knowledge of the nature of faith and the 
manner of its exercise is the most important of all 
knowledge. However grand and brilliant life may 
be in the estimation of men, it will be but a splen- 
did failure without the faith that saves. And no 
matter what may be the disappointments and fail- 
ures of life, if there be prosperity at the mercy- 
seat probation will be a grand success. Hence, 
the great lesson that all should aspire to learn is 
the nature and mode of exercising faith. Inquire, 
then, — 

What is faith? — The apostle says, " Faith is 
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of 
things not seen." As this is the Holy Spirit's own 
definition, it must be correct, lucid, and easily 
understood by all honest inquirers after truth. A 
simple illustration will clearly open the meaning 
to such minds. 

Suppose a person is so embarrassed in his business 
that, unless he can negotiate a loan in a few days, 



180 THE NEW NAME. 

his property will be seized and sold at such ruin- 
ous rates as to render him bankrupt. To escape 
this calamity he goes out in search of money to 
meet his liabilities, and give him time to save his 
property and his home. The necessary amount 
has now become a great object of hope. After 
several unsuccessful applications he meets a man 
known to have money, who says to him, " I have 
money deposited in bank, and you shall have what 
you need, and as long as you need it; here is a 
check for the amount." The embarrassed man 
returns, feeling that his trouble is ended for the 
present, and his property saved. He has not 
yet seen any money, his creditors still hold his 
obligations, but his faith in his friend's word and 
check, and his belief that the order will be honored 
in bank, puts him to rest. His faith is the sub- 
stance of the thing hoped for, and the evidence 
of things not yet seen. He has seen no money, 
yet he needs no additional testimony to assure him 
that the money is subject to his order. 

When the Holy Spirit shows a sinner his need 
of salvation, pardon and adoption become objects 
of hope. And when, under the same divine 
illumination, a believer discovers his need of pur- 
ity, this becomes the object of his hope. Victory 
in trial, establishing grace, triumph in death, and 
everlasting life in heaven, are the objects of gen- 
eral Christian hope. Now, to all such persons the 
Lord says, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, what- 



FAITH: ITS MANNER AND SCOPE. 181 

soever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will 
give it you." Faith in this promise, or the belief 
that God will honor this order of His son, gives 
substance to the things asked for, and evidences 
the reality and tender of these unseen things. 
Such a believer asks for no other evidence or testi- 
mony. He does not hunt after the witness of the 
Spirit; he has it in his faith. "He that believeth 
on the son of God hath the witness in himself." 
Inquire next — 

How to exercise faith, — Faith, like every other 
act and state of the mind, has its laws, and 
takes place upon certain conditions which are 
clearly stated by inspired teachers. The Saviour 
says, " How can ye believe, which receive honor 
one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh 
from God only?" John says, "Beloved, if our 
heart condemn us not, then have we confidence 
toward God." It is evident from these statements 
that a complete renunciation of self, the world and 
its honors, a full acceptance of all the will of God, 
and an unreserved compliance with all the con- 
ditions of salvation, so far as known to the seeker, 
are necessary antecedents to saving faith. And an 
attempt to exercise such faith without meeting 
these conditions is a foolish and criminal expendi- 
ture ol time and strength, and accounts for the 
prevalency of so much unbelief among professors 
of religion. 

The body of professed Christians may be divided 



182 THE NEW NAME. 

into three classes with respect to their faith. One 
class has nothing more than a general or historic 
faith, which brings no religious peace and no 
assurance of pardon. This class lays no claim to 
a truly gracious state. It acknowledges spiritual 
destitution, and is free to state the cause : a non- 
conformity to the condition of salvation. Another 
class, with feeble purpose and defective obedience, 
has occasional peace, and a beclouded and inter- 
mittent witness to adoption. The religious life 
and experience are altogether unsatisfactory for 
the reasons already named. The other class, with 
fixed and unalterable purposes to be pious, and 
with implicit obedience to all the known will of 
God, has continual peace, with continual assurance 
of acceptance, whatever may be the trials, the 
reverses, or providential darkness. The secret of 
this is, the conditions of salvation, to the full 
extent of the light enjoyed by this class, are fully 
and constantly met. Inquire lastly, — 

What is the scope of faith? — Some portions 
of Scripture, isolated from all connections, give to 
faith a boundless range, but others fix a limit to 
its action. " Comparing spiritual things with 
spiritual," it is clear that a faith which claims 
what is not provided and promised is fanatical, and 
doomed to disappointment. But faith, acting 
within the provisions of the atonement and 
promises, must be honored, and the petitions it 
makes must be answered. Hence, if persons claim 



FAITH: ITS MANNER AND SCOPE. 183 

to have received, through faith, any temporal or 
spiritual good provided and promised to believers, 
they are entitled to credit unless the clear absence 
of what they claim contradicts their statement. 
If any person claims to have received physical 
sight, or healing of any kind, or claim to have 
experienced the complete destruction of all longing 
for strong drink or tobacco or opium, or claim to 
have received the assurance of entire inward puri- 
fication, in answer to the prayer of faith, he is 
entitled to credit, if the fact of his physical condi- 
tion and religious life do not contradict his state- 
ments. 

The numerous instances of physical healing 
recorded in the Scriptures, and the many instances 
which have taken place in late years in answer to 
prayer, ought to satisfy every mind that such heal- 
ing comes within the range of evangelical faith. 
The many statements in revelation that the mission 
of the Son of God was to destroy the works of the 
devil, and the testimony of thousands of reformed 
inebriates, tobacco users, and others of perverted 
and sin-begotten appetites, who declare that, in 
answer to prayer, they have been delivered, not 
only from the power, but, so far as they can 
discern, from the very inbeing of these desires, 
ought to produce conviction that a scriptural faith 
can master and destroy these perversions of the 
animal man. The various commands to be holy, 
the various promises of purity, the instances of 



184 THE NEW NAME. 

personal holiness given in the Scriptures, and the 
testimony of thousands of Christians living in this 
day, that they have experienced, in answer to 
prayer, the conscious cleansing of their hearts and 
sanctification of their natures, ought to settle the 
question of the believer's privilege in the matter 
of full salvation. 

To deny, therefore, as some professed teachers 
of righteousness do, that any such phenomena as 
above mentioned can take place, to claim that such 
experience and notions are errors and delusions, is 
to contradict and destroy the force of all testimony, 
and, consequently, much of the evidence upon 
which the inspired records rest. The only ques- 
tion to settle in the minds of those who truly 
believe the Scriptures in the investigation of these 
claims, especially the claims of inward purifi- 
cation, is : Do the claimants of this experience 
really believe that the Holy Spirit cleanses them 
now from all moral defilement? If so, the divine 
verdict is that they are cleansed. "According 
to your faith be it unto you." Many cavillers 
say of such persons, " Oh, they are sincere, and no 
doubt believe what they say, but they are deluded ; 
they are greatly mistaken." But, the fact of their 
sincerity and belief acknowledged, the Saviour 
decides, in the Scriptures just quoted, that their 
claim must also be conceded. The question of 
possession is resolved into the question of present 
faith, and this they declare they have, and we 



FAITH: ITS MANNER AND SCOPE. 185 

must accept their testimony if the facts of their 
lives do not contradict their profession. 

Reader, would you have a faith that commands 
all the atonement provides for you ? Then com- 
pletely, unreservedly, and eternally surrender 
yourself to God, and never tamper with your con- 
secration, but continue to hold j^ourself " a living 
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God." 



CHAPTEE XXII. 

THOMAS' SKEPTICISM. 

THE notion that Thomas was a constitutional 
doubter is so general that it has made its way 
into our religious conversation, and much of our 
current religious literature. Many persons, with 
a smile of evident self-gratulation, excuse their 
unbelief by classing themselves with unbelieving 
Thomas, and judge themselves not only innocent, 
but claimants upon superior mental endowments. 
They seem to view themselves as too profound and 
logical to accept the statements of revelation upon 
the force of the evidence which has been graciously 
furnished, and which satisfies the common mind. 
Has such a notion any foundation either in reason 
or revelation ? Is it not an alarming error from 
which the religious press and pulpits of Christen- 
dom should speedily escape ? 

The reason given in this record for Thomas' 
unbelief is that he was not present at the first 
fellowship meeting when Jesus revealed Himself to 
the disciples. This reason is given in these words 
of inspiration: — 

" But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didy- 



THOMAS 1 SKEPTICISM. 187 

mus, was not with them when Jesus came." Hence 
he had not yet come within the range of evidence 
which his brethren had. From some cause he 
neglected this fellowship meeting, and therefore 
did not see and hear what the other disciples saw 
and heard. Had Thomas been present at this 
meeting, and some of the other disciples absent, 
they would have been the doubters, and Thomas 
would never have been charged with more unbe- 
lief than others. 

"The other disciples therefore said unto him, 
We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, 
Except I shall see in his hands the print of the 
nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, 
and thrust my hand into his side, I will not 
believe." 

When the disciples who were present at the 
fellowship meeting, and saw and heard Jesus, and 
were convinced of the reality of His resurrection, 
said unto the absent Thomas, " We have seen the 
Lord," he naturally answered, " I fear not. The 
news is too good to believe. I suspect your wishes 
have led you to believe upon too slight evidence." 
" Oh no," said they ; " He showed us His hands and 
His side ; He said unto us at two different times, 
' Peace be unto you ; ' and He, moreover, breathed 
on us and said, 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost.' 
There can be no mistake about the matter." " Well," 
said Thomas, " I would have to be sure that the 
form claiming to be the risen Christ was no impos- 



188 THE NEW NAME. 

tor, with nail prints painted upon the hands and 
spear marks painted upon the side. I should have 
to put my finger into the print of the nails, and 
thrust my hand into the side, to be sure of no 
imposture." 

It may be admitted here that Thomas, though of 
a very ardent and impulsive nature (John 14 : 4, 5), 
expressed his honest convictions when he declared 
that he could not accept the reality of Christ's resur- 
rection unless he had more evidence than the other 
disciples claimed to have ; yet when he was brought 
within the range of the evidence, he believed upon 
less than was furnished at the first meeting. No- 
tice what follows. 

" And after eight days again his disciples were 
within, and Thomas with them : then came Jesus, 
the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and 
said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to 
Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my 
hands ; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it 
into my side : and be not faithless, but believing. 
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My 
Lord and my God." 

In this second fellowship meeting, Thomas was 
present, and Christ appeared in the same manner 
as in the first ; but, according to the record, with 
less communications and less display of His Christ- 
hood. At the first meeting He showed His hands 
and His side ; twice uttered the benediction, " Peace 
be unto you ; " renewed and deepened the meaning 



THOMAS 1 SKEPTICISM. 189 

of their commission by the words, " As my Father 
hath sent me, even so send I you ; " once breathed 
upon them and said, " Receive ye the Holy Ghost; " 
and invested them with the prerogative of propos- 
ing such terms of reconciliation to the world as 
should receive a ratification in heaven. At the 
second meeting He showed His hands and His side, 
pronounced His blessing once, and omitted all the 
other communications and exercises of the first 
meeting; yet Thomas believed, and cried out, 
"My Lord and my God," making more demon- 
stration than the other disciples at the first 
meeting. 

It may be said, that the Saviour's personal address 
to Thomas, and challenge to investigate the reality 
of His resurrection, had more weight with Thomas 
than all that took place in the first meeting. To 
this it may be answered, admitted. Still the record 
shows that his unbelief in the first place was 
caused by his absence from the first meeting ; and 
his faith, in the second place, was caused by his 
presence at the second meeting. In other words, 
his neglect of the means of grace put him outside 
the range of the evidence he needed ; and his atten- 
tion to these means put him within the range of 
such evidence. 

So it may be safely affirmed that all the doubt- 
ing Thomases in the Church are careless about the 
company which they keep, the subjects about 
which they converse, the publications which they 



190 THE NEW NAME. 

read ; they are not as careful as thej^ should be 
about their closet devotions, their family prayers, 
and the public means of grace: while those who 
have less trouble with unbelief live much with 
God and in eternity ; they are careful about every 
thing that would affect their faith and interfere 
with their spirituality; they keep on good terms 
with their consciences and final Judge, and thus 
keep themselves under the evidences which produce 
and confirm faith. 

If it be said that a denial of constitutional dif- 
ferences in the matter of faith contradicts the 
established principles of phrenological science, 
then it must be replied that, if such differences do 
exist, there must be a corresponding measure of 
grace given to the constitutional doubter, so that 
unbelief in him is as criminal as in any other. 
The Scriptures say, " He that believeth not shall 
be damned," no matter what may be his mental 
peculiarities. The Saviour never encouraged His 
disciples, or any one of them, to look upon unbe- 
lief — for which at different times He rebuked them 
— as a constitutional trouble, but as the result of 
self-seeking, and want of utter abandonment of 
themselves to God. "How can ye believe, which 
receive honor one of another, and seek not the 
honor that cometh from God only ? " This passage 
discloses the secret of doubts among our unbeliev- 
ing Thomases, and the secret of trust among more 
faithful Christians. 

"Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou 



THOMAS' SKEPTICISM. 191 

hast seen me, thou hast believed : blessed are they 
that have not seen, and yet have believed." 

From this statement it would seem that Thomas 
did not put his finger in the print of the nails, nor 
his hand into the pierced side, as he supposed 
would be necessary to convince him ; but, like the 
other disciples, was convinced by hearing and 
seeing the risen Lord. All he needed was the 
evidence which his brethren had, and which he 
could have had at the first meeting. This is all 
the unbelieving Thomases of this day need. They 
only need to bring themselves within the range of 
evidence, by fidelity to the trust reposed in them 
and a faithful use of the means of grace. 

The Saviour takes the occasion to teach Thomas, 
and all others, that if he had believed upon the 
testimony of his brethren, and without the evidence 
of sight, he would have been no less happy. So 
He would teach that, to walk out upon the prom- 
ises of God, and claim their fulfilment without the 
evidence of sense, is as safe and satisfactory in 
results as to work and struggle until the soul 
unconsciously believes and receives the sensible 
touches of the Holy Spirit. The incoming of the 
Comforter and the witness of the Spirit are just 
as certain and as sweet, upon an intelligent accept- 
ance of the record God has given of His Son, and 
belief in His promises, as they could be upon any 
vision or apparition, or any external manifestation 
confirmatory to the senses of the truth of the 
Word. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



paul's confession of holiness, 



IT has been said that Paul never, in so many 
words, professed entire sanctification. But no 
one has a right to utter any such sentiment. From 
what we know of the positive character of Paul, it 
would be unreasonable to infer that he did not 
positively declare his entire sanctification after he 
entered that experience. It would be more like 
him to declare it very frequently and very defi- 
nitely at that period of his religious life. 

In searching for the gracious state which the 
apostle claimed at the time of writing his epistles, 
it must be remembered that he was continually 
forgetting those things which were behind, and 
was reaching to those things which were before ; 
that he was not contented to move around any one 
luminous point of his experience, but continually 
pressed toward the mark; and at the time his 
letters were written, he had moved from twenty to 
thirty years from the point where Ananias laid his 
hands upon him and he was filled with the Holy 
Ghost. Hence the experience which he had at the 
time of writing, and which he freely and frequent- 



PAUL'S CONFESSION OF HOLINESS. 193 

ly declares, was not that of perfected holiness in 
its initial stage, but entire sanctification greatly 
matured and developed. The language which he 
employs in stating his experiences at this time 
clearly conveys this idea. And if it can be said 
that he does not confess perfected holiness in his 
epistles, it is because he confesses much more ; 
namely, perfected holiness extensively cultured 
and disciplined. 

In one of his earliest letters he said, "'Ye are 
witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly 
and unblamably we behave ourselves among you 
that believe.' ' In this statement he not only 
declares that he enjoyed and lived unblamable 
holiness, but that they themselves, being believers 
and competent judges, and God also, were wit- 
nesses to the truth of his statement. If this be 
not a bold and fearless confession of entire sancti- 
fication, it would be difficult to formulate such a 
confession. Some years later, in writing to the 
church at Rome, he declared, "I am sure that, 
when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness 
of the blessing of the gospel of Christ." In this 
he affirms that he not only had the fulness of the 
blessing, but, which is very much more, he affirms 
that he was sure he would continue to have it in 
the future. Hence he confesses not only entire 
sanctification, but establishment in that grace. 

In his frequent references to his religious experi- 
ence in the other epistles, it may be observed that 



194 THE NEW NAME. 

advanced stages of perfect holiness are described. 
Take the statement, " I am filled with comfort, I 
am exceeding joyful in all our tribulations," and 
remember that his tribulations were stripes, im- 
prisonments, and death, and no one can fail to see 
that the apostle here declares a very advanced 
state of entire sanctification. In the remarkable 
statement, " Therefore I take pleasure in infirmi- 
ties, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, 
in distresses for Christ's sake," he professedly tells 
of an experience and gracious state reached eleven 
years after he was filled with the Holy Ghost. 
This experience was reached through very deep 
humiliations and earnest prayers eleven years after 
his entire sanctification, and marks an advanced 
stage of that grace. 

The statement, " I will very gladly spend and be 
spent for you ; though the more abundantly I love 
you, the less I be loved," declares a self-forget- 
fulness and utter devotement to the good of others 
which belong to the advanced stages of an entirely 
sanctified life. In the early experiences of entire 
sanctification the purified believer cannot truth- 
fully say, "I am exceeding joyful in all our 
tribulation," " I take pleasure in infirmities, in 
reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in dis- 
tresses for Christ's sake," and other such utter- 
ances. It is necessary to undergo the same school- 
ing which the apostle had, and which enabled him 
to say, " I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, 



PAUL'S CONFESSION OF HOLINESS. 195 

therewith to be content." He had learned, by 
actual experience, that all such things, however 
painful, were for his highest well-being, and con- 
sequently took pleasure in them. This lesson 
none but the entirely purified can learn, nor can 
they learn it in the same hour or day of their 
entire purification. 

Hence these statements of the apostle, and 
others of like import, name a gracious state far in 
advance of the early experiences in entire sanctifi- 
cation. If, therefore, it can be said that these 
statements are not confessions of entire sanctifi- 
cation, it is because they declare a gracious state 
nothing short of perfect holiness extensively 
matured. 

In the early stages of these experiences, the 
apostle, no doubt, spoke of his entire sanctification 
in so many words; but as he advanced in this 
grace, these words became feeble and inexpressive, 
and he adopted, from necessity, the circumlocu- 
tory method indicated in the passages above 
quoted. We may notice to-day that a rigid 
adherence to certain terms in confessing holiness 
indicates either childhood in that experience, or a 
perfunctory profession of what is not enjoyed. 
Matured sanctification is compelled to resort to 
the apostle's circumlocutory method of confessing. 



CHAPTEE XXIV. 

ANTINOMIANISM — IN CHRIST. 

THE Pauline expression "in Christ," "in the 
Lord," etc., is seriously wrested by the An- 
tinomian class of teachers and Bible expositors. 
It is so interpreted as to harmonize it with a sinful 
state of the heart and life. They tell us that there 
is, or at least may be, a radical distinction between 
the believer's moral state and standing before God ; 
that his relations with God by virtue of his accept- 
ance of Christ must be right, and unchangeably 
right, while his communion, his fellowship, and 
service may be all wrong; and that if he once 
receives Christ by faith, it is no matter what he 
may do thereafter, or what may be his real moral 
character, he is divinely reckoned as pure, and as 
certain of eternal blessedness as the Christ whom 
he receives. It would seem that the bare enuncia- 
tion of such notions would be to disprove them ; 
but their votaries and advocates are increasing 
in some sections with strange rapidity, and true 
orthodoxy cannot be too assiduous in counteract- 
ing this heresy. 

What, then, is the scriptural significance of 



ANTINOMIANISM — IN CHRIST. 197 

Paul's favorite phrase to designate a gracious state ? 
The Pauline idea of a believer "in Christ" in- 
volves the correlated idea of Christ in the believer. 
Though the expression, " Christ in you," or, Christ 
in the believer, is not so frequently met with 
as the believer in Christ, yet it is plainly stated in 
Col. 1 : 27, and implied in numerous other con- 
nections in Paul's writings. The Authorized 
Version gives a marginal reading of the text just 
cited that destroys its force in this argument; but 
the Revised Version and the text of Scholz in the 
Greek New Testament render the expression, 
" Christ in you," and not, " among you." All of 
those Pauline utterances, such as " Christ our life," 
"He (Christ) is our peace," "Christ our hope," 
"Christ our righteousness," "That Christ may 
dwell in your hearts by faith," declare the fact of 
Christ's real indwelling in the hearts of true Chris- 
tians. PauVs thought of the believer's completeness 
in Christ involves the idea of Christ's completeness 
in the believer. Note his statement in Col. 2: 10, 
11 : " Ye are complete in him ... in whom also ye 
are circumcised with the circumcision made with- 
out hands, in putting off the body of the sins of 
the flesh by the circumcision of Christ." Hence, 
to be complete in Christ is to receive an unseen or 
spiritual circumcision ; what he calls in another 
place the circumcision of tha heart, or a state of 
purity. Hence Paul's favorite expression, "in 
Christ," " in the Lord," etc., meant, in his mind, 



198 THE NEW NAME. 

the complimentary expressions, " Christ in you," 
" Christ our life," Christ dwelling in the heart, 
expelling all impurity and imparting His own 
nature to the happy subjects of His indwelling. 

Such, also, was the Saviour's teaching concerning 
what these errorists call a " standing in Christ." 
It meant with Him His own divine indwelling, 
purifying the heart, and putting the moral state of 
the believer into harmony with the divine nature. 
Take a few of the Saviour's statements on this 
subject for illustration : " At that day ye shall 
know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I 
in you;" "Abide in me, and I in you;" "lie 
that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth 
forth much fruit." Nothing is clearer than the 
Saviour taught here that,, "I in you" was a neces- 
sary concomitant of u ye in me" and that one im- 
plied the other. The phrases express a reciprocal 
and living connection with each other; and the 
apologue of the vine and the branches present the 
same thought, — the branches growing into the 
vine, and the vine into the branches, and both 
possessing the same succulence, the same life, and 
the same fruit-bearing property. So, " ye in me " 
and " I in you " express the interpenetration of the 
same life, the same purity, the same unction, and 
the same Christly qualities of every kind, making 
the believer like Christ in fact. 

This " standing in Christ," or union with Him, 
whether called an " incorporation into the glorified 



ANTINOMIANISM — IN CHRIST. 199 

person of Jesus Christ" or "some intimate rela- 
tion to His official work," must not be forced to 
include more than the divinely chosen symbols of 
the relationship will justify. Hence to speak of it 
as a fixed, unchangeable union with Christ, is to 
strain the Saviour's favorite figure, which He 
explains to mean a possible and certain excision 
through unfaithfulness. "Every branch in me 
that beareth not fruit he taketh away." "If a 
man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, 
and is withered ; and men gather them, and cast 
them into the fire, and they are burned." It is, 
therefore, pushing the figure to an unscriptural 
length, when the thought of excision is scouted by 
the coarse and unpleasant idea of "the glorified 
person of Jesus Christ walking about in heaven 
dropping His fingers and toes by self-mutilation." 
On the other hand, this union must not be 
strained to mean less than the types clearly per- 
mit. Hence, to speak of sin u in " us while none 
can be " on" us in this union ; or to speak of our 
standing as perfect and inalienable while our 
moral state is spiritual rottenness ; or in any way 
exclude the thought of a free and unobstructed 
inflow of the life, purity, and spirit of Christ, is to 
strain the symbol on the other side, and spread a 
ruinous heresy. Thus this favorite expression of 
Paul and modern Antinomians, " in Christ," with 
its true scriptural limitations and involvements, is 
absolutely fatal to the whole Antinomian system 
of teaching and Bible expositions. 



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